French president ‘to decide’ on Russia warships contract in weeks
French President Francois Hollande says he will make a decision “in the coming weeks” on the fate of a contract with Russia that promises the latter country two Mistral-class warships but that has been suspended.
“We are in a discussion... which will require a decision that I have to take, and I will take in the coming weeks,” Hollande said on Monday, apparently referring to talks with Moscow.
“We have contractual obligations,” the French president admitted.
Paris was to sell the helicopter-carrier warships to Moscow under a EUR 1.2-billion (USD 1.3-billion) agreement signed with Russia in 2011. The first warship, the Vladivostok, and the second, the Sevastopol, were due to be handed over to Russia in November 2014 and in 2015, respectively.
Last November though, the French government suspended the military transaction with Russia over Paris said was Moscow’s role in the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine.
Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of supporting the pro-Russia forces fighting against the Ukrainian government in the eastern part of Ukraine. Russia denies such claims.
According to Russian daily Kommersant, Paris has proposed to end the contract and pay back EUR 785 million (USD 869 million) to Moscow, provided France can re-export the warships.
France has offered to return only the money paid so far on the deal, while Russia would like to have other costs reimbursed, like expenses of training the crews and building port infrastructure in the city of Vladivostok, where the first of the two ships was to be based, according to Kommersant.
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