London: Details of the AUKUS deal between Australia, the US and the UK that stole away the USD 66 billion contract Paris had signed with Canberra were agreed upon during the G7 summit in Cornwall this past June, The Telegraph reports.
The newspaper said on Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron was unaware of preparations for the agreement.
Then-UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (who is now the new justice secretary) was warned that such a deal could negatively affect relations with China and Paris, but the details of the agreement were nonetheless discussed at the G7 summit and all relevant AUKUS documents were classified as “top secret,” according to The Telegraph.
The Guardian said on Saturday that US talks on the issue went on for months in utmost secrecy and that during the G7 summit in Cornwall, Macron was given no hint that the Australians were about to scupper the deal.
Earlier this week, the US, Australia and the UK announced a new trilateral AUKUS defence partnership. The new defensive pact forced Canberra to give up on a $66 billion contract with France to develop 12 state-of-the-art conventionally powered attack submarines.
The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The summit in Cornwall, held on June 11-13, was also attended by the leaders of the European Union and several guest nations, such as South Korea, Australia, and South Africa.