Envoy seeks to smooth spat with Paris after no-show

The United States has backed away from a dispute with France that flared when Washington's ambassador refused to attend a meeting to which he had been summoned.

After the no-show, the French government hit back by saying Ambassador Charles Kushner would no longer be able to access ministers, prompting Kushner to say he would belatedly attend the meeting with French officials that he had previously avoided.

The US embassy in Paris said in a statement that Kushner and France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot had shared "a frank and amicable" phone call, "reaffirming their shared commitment to working together, along with all other ministers and French officials, on the many issues that impact the United States and France, particularly as the two countries celebrate 250 years of rich diplomatic relations".

The call followed Barrot telling broadcaster France Info on Tuesday that Kushner, who is the father of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, would lose access to French ministers and that his failure to follow diplomatic protocol when summoned to the initial meeting would, "naturally, affect his capacity to exercise his mission in our country".

France had summoned Kushner to the meeting on Monday night after the US State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau wrote last week on the social media site X that "violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque's death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety".

France said the US should not have commented on far-right supporter Deranque's death, which was widely reported in France as having been at the hands of far-left activists.

The nation said the issue of whether radical politics is on the rise in France is an internal one, and is being dealt with appropriately by French law enforcement agencies. The US embassy in Paris also posted the original State Department message.

After Kushner failed to attend the meeting on Monday to explain why the US had commented on Deranque's death, and following Barrot's subsequent threat to remove Kushner's access to ministers, Kushner and Barrot now say they plan to meet in the coming days.

The Associated Press quoted Barrot as saying France strongly believes nations, including the US, have no right to interfere in French internal affairs, but he added that Kushner "took note, expressed his willingness not to interfere in our public debate, and recalled the friendship that binds France and the United States".

Barrot added that "there is nothing more usual than summoning an ambassador when explanations need to be made. When these explanations have taken place, then the US ambassador in France will, naturally, regain access to members of the French government".

"We don't accept that foreign countries can come and interfere, inviting themselves into the national political debate," Barrot added.

earle@mail.chinadailyuk.com