Politico: Tension rises between France and Britain over different visions of dealing with Trump

The relationship between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron has become complicated due to different visions of how to interact with American leader Donald Trump. This was reported by the newspaper Politico, citing a number of current and former European officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Starmer and Macron have come a long way in forging ties between their countries, but someone is standing in their way. The French president's arrival on British shores this week – the first full state visit by a French president since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 – is an important sign of friendship after years of hostility between London and Paris, according to.

Since Starmer became prime minister, relations between the two leaders have warmed, and he has pushed to ease longstanding tensions between Britain and France, as well as the European Union as a whole.

This week's leaders' meeting holds much promise: closer defense cooperation, a new agreement to combat migration flows across the Channel, and progress on nuclear cooperation.

"But beyond the pats on the back and handshakes, subtle cracks have begun to appear in relations between the Channel states," Politico writes.

London and Paris have so far coordinated closely to try to keep Trump in the space for peace talks on Ukraine. With the process at a standstill, British and French officials are now expressing some irritation with the way the other side has chosen to deal with the US president.

One British diplomat noted that Stermer had decided to conduct difficult negotiations privately. "This is not very Macron's style," he added .

François-Joseph Chichan, a former French diplomat and director of the Flint Global consulting company, agreed that this week should be seen as a "reconciliation summit" but admitted that there would still be "differences on certain issues, on how to deal with Trump".

As one French scholar associated with Macron put it, the British prime minister is "much more cautious" when it comes to interacting with the White House.

Journalists emphasize that the misunderstanding between the two leaders could jeopardize the unity of the "coalition of the willing." The main reason for the misunderstanding was the issue of cooperation with the United States.

According to two French officials, the "coalition of the willing" has no clear direction. They believe that part of the problem lies in Britain's attachment of great importance to U.S. guarantees that have never been realized.

At the same time, London accuses Macron of thinking primarily about "his legacy" in his international statements as he approaches the end of his presidential term. An official with knowledge of the Iran talks said Macron was trying to show himself as a peacemaker in these negotiations.

• On June 19, the FT wrote that Trump's decision to leave the G7 summit on the first day was partly due to his irritation with Macron and lack of interest in seeing his Ukrainian counterpart Zelenskiy.