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Liz Truss says she wants constructive relationship with Emmanuel Macron ahead of UN General Assembly meeting

The Prime Minister says she wants to 'work together on the issue of migration', as the two leaders prepare for talks in New York

Liz Truss has sought to launch a charm offensive with her French counterpart on the issue of migrant Channel crossings ahead of a crunch meeting in New York on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister has previously taken a tough stance with her European counterparts, particularly when it comes to post-Brexit trading arrangements, insisting the UK will not back down on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

She also failed to state whether French President Emmanuel Macron was a “friend or foe” to the UK during the Tory leadership race.

But ahead of her first bilateral meeting with Mr Macron in New York on Tuesday, the PM looked to strike a more emollient tone with Paris on major issues, such as Ukraine and migrant crossings from France.

Asked what she would want Mr Macron to do to tackle the record number of small boats coming across the Channel this year, Ms Truss replied: “I want to have a constructive relationship with France. Of course that means working together on the issue of migration.”

She added that the UK wants to work closely with France on various other issues, not least on energy security and improving relations with the European Union.

Ms Truss arrived in New York early this morning to attend the UN General Assembly – her first foreign trip as prime minister. She is expected to have a bilateral meeting with Mr Macron in the afternoon.

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The talks will also focus heavily on ensuring Vladimir Putin “does not succeed in Ukraine”.

Pressed on what she wanted to see Mr Macron offer to reduce the numbers of migrant crossings, Ms Truss said: “That is one of the issues that we need to work with France in a constructive way on.”

While the words suggest Ms Truss is making a marked shift in tone in regards to her dealings with France, insiders suggested she was simply being diplomatic in a mark of respect of the Queen’s funeral.

The Prime Minister looked to have further damaged Anglo-French relations when she claimed the “jury’s out” on whether Paris could be considered an ally to the UK during the Tory leadership contest.

Ms Truss claimed she would judge her French opposite number by his “deeds not words”.

The comments appeared to leave any hope of a reset in relations between the two countries in tatters, and prompted a cool response from Mr Macron, who said it was “never good to lose your bearings in life”.

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