London, United Kingdom (CNN) -- The French ambassador to Australia said he was "very sad to have been forced to leave," Saturday, after France recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the United States over a tripartite security pact that led to the cancellation of the Canberra purchase. Subs from Paris.
I am still confident in the French-Australian and Australian-French cooperation. I think this was a huge mistake,” said Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thibault, leaving his residence.
The ambassador considered the submarine deal "a very bad deal with the partnership because it was not a contract, it was a partnership."
"I am very sad to be forced to leave, although some reassessment needs to be done," Thibault added.
Under the tripartite agreement between the US, UK and Australia, dubbed AUKUS, Australia will eventually get nuclear-powered submarines, scrapping a $65 billion deal for the French naval group to build a fleet of conventional submarines.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement that French President Emmanuel Macron made the rare decision due to the "exceptional gravity" of the matter. The minister himself described the tripartite agreement as a "real stab in the back".
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Earlier Friday, France summoned the French ambassador to Washington, in the latest escalation in this transatlantic dispute.
French Minister of Housing, Emmanuel Argonne, said, on Saturday, that France is still "waiting for explanations" about the collapse of the Franco-Australian submarine deal.
Wargun was speaking on French radio station FranceInfo.
He considered that his country's recall of its ambassador to Washington was a wake-up call and the need to respond to events that "should not happen between allies."