France’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva has said it “regrets” criticising the United States over human rights in a social media post that triggered a diplomatic dispute which has delayed the arrival of a new French ambassador in Washington.
In a post on X in late July, the French mission had criticised the United States for joining countries including Russia and North Korea in voting against extending the term of U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk.
The message angered Washington, which responded by walking out of a UN Security Council meeting while France was speaking. Sources said the US was also weighing blocking France’s choice as its next ambassador in Washington.
“The Permanent Mission of France to the UN in Geneva regrets the 25 July 2026 message posted on X that called into question the US commitment to human rights,” the mission said.
The difference in views “concerned one vote, and not the defence of human rights,” it said in a statement in English published on its website.
France’s foreign affairs ministry declined to comment further, while the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The apology, earlier reported by French daily Le Monde, may open the way for France’s nominee as next ambassador to the US, Aurelien Lechevallier, to be approved by Washington.
Lechevallier, a former Elysee aide, is currently Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot’s chief of staff.
Paris had aimed to have him in post by September, a source has said.
