Edit: Ahmed Al-Kumy

Today, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and Emmanuel Macron's French counterpart held telephone talks, during which they discussed the recent crisis over

Australia's withdrawal from a French submarine deal, and agreed to start a process of in - depth consultations. Macron also decided to return the French ambassador to Washington.

According to a joint statement published on the White House website, the phone was called at Biden's request, to "discuss the implications of the 15 September announcement."

The statement stated that Biden and Macron "agreed that the situation would have benefited from open-ended consultations between allies on issues of strategic importance to France and our European partners, and President Biden expressed his continued commitment in this regard."

The two sides also agreed to "open an in-depth consultation process aimed at creating conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete actions to achieve common objectives." It was also decided that the leaders would meet "in Europe at the end of October in order to reach common understandings and maintain momentum in this process."

"President Emmanuel Macron decided to return the French Ambassador to Washington next week. He will then begin intensive work with senior United States officials. "

Biden reaffirmed "the strategic importance of French and European engagement in the Indian and Pacific Ocean region, including within the framework of the recently published European Union Indian and Pacific Ocean strategy," according to the statement, noting that the United States "also recognizes the importance of a stronger and more capable European defence that contributes positively to trans-Atlantic and global security and complements NATO."

"In their common fight against terrorism, the United States is committed to strengthening its support for counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel region and carried out by European States."

It will be recalled that a diplomatic crisis erupted between Paris and Washington and Canberra last week, after Australia concluded a three-way defence partnership agreement with the United States and Britain in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, whereby Washington would provide Canberra with technology and capabilities to build nuclear-powered submarines, following which Canberra announced its withdrawal from a massive deal with a French company to build 12 conventional submarines in Australia, prompting Paris to call its ambassadors.