Biden Concedes Submarine Dealings With France Were Suboptimal: ‘What We Did Was Clumsy’

President Joe Biden on Friday conceded that his administration’s dealings with France over a nuclear-powered submarine deal were “clumsy”.

France was angered by the deal the United States and United Kingdom struck with Australia, known as AUKUS, as Australia reneged on a similar deal that France made with the Indo-Pacific nation. It recalled its ambassador to the United States in retaliation, but he has since returned to Washington.

Giving remarks to the press while sitting next to French President Emmanuel Macron in Rome, in response to a reporter asking if the U.S.-France relationship is “repaired,” Biden said, “I think what happened was, to use an English phrase, what we did was clumsy. It was not done with a lot of grace. I remember things that happened hadn’t happened. And I want to make it clear: France is an extremely, extremely valuable partner, extremely, and a power within it of itself.”

“I was under the impression that France had been informed long before,” added Biden, referring to the AUKUS deal before it was publicized.

Prior to meeting Macron, Biden met in Rome with the president and prime minister of Italy, Sergio Mattarella and Mario Draghi, respectively, and with Pope Francis at the Vatican. This is all part of Biden’s five-day trip to Europe that also includes being in Rome for the G20 and in Scotland for a U.N. climate change conference.

Watch above, via CNN.