The Buzz | UK says relations with France strong despite sub deal anger

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that Britain’s relationship with France is “ineradicable,” despite fury in Paris over a U.S.-U.K.-Australia submarine deal.
A meeting between French Defense Minister Florence Parly and her British counterpart, Ben Wallace, has been postponed as the agreement roils relations between France and major allies.
The two had been due to meet and address a meeting organized this week by the Franco-British Council. Peter Ricketts, the council’s co-chairman, told The Guardian yesterday that the meeting had been “postponed to a later date.”
The submarine deal, announced last week, will see Australia cancel a contract to buy diesel-electric French subs and acquire nuclear-powered vessels from the U.S. instead. The U.S., Australia and Britain say the deal bolsters their commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, and has widely been seen as a move to counter an increasingly assertive China.
The French government appears to have been blindsided by the agreement.
France did not, however, recall its envoy to London. French Europe Minister Clement Beaune said Britain, the third player in the “AUSUK ” deal, was a “junior partner” and a vassal of the U.S.