President Emmanuel Macron held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his first meeting with a US official after the termination of a submarine contract with Australia sparked a crisis between Paris and Washington, AFP reported.

Blinken, who tried to mend relations with France after Canberra pulled out of a security pact deal with Britain and the United States, did not initially plan to meet with Macron as part of a two-day visit to Paris.

The one-on-one meeting lasted about 40 minutes, with mutual agreement that we now have the opportunity to deepen and strengthen coordination, although there is still a lot of hard work to be done, said a senior State Department official.

The Elysee Palace also confirmed a meeting with Macron, saying that Blinken's visit would help restore confidence between the parties.

Macron flew into a rage last month when Australia backed out of a multibillion-dollar deal to acquire French submarines, saying it would use American nuclear versions instead.

Macron's government called the secret negotiations that led to the cancellation a stab in the back, and the French president withdrew the word from Washington and Canberra.

Earlier on Tuesday, Blinken met with French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian. A spokeswoman for Le Drian called this a chance to identify the milestones that can help restore trust between the two countries.

He then drove to the Elysee Palace for a scheduled meeting with Macron's security adviser Emmanuel Bonn, but then met face to face with President Macron for about 30 or 40 minutes, a State Department spokesman said.