Russia, France Plan Talks on Dismantling Equipment From Mistral

All the equipment has to be dismantled and returned by November 22, a source said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia and France will hold talks on September 21 on the dismantling of equipment on the Mistral-class helicopter carrier that Paris failed to deliver to Russia’s Navy, a source in Russia’s military-technical cooperation said Wednesday.

“The group will hold talks on September 21 and by November 22, everything should be dismantled and returned,” the source told RIA Novosti.

He said that both France and Russia would dismantle the equipment together.

“The dismantling will be conducted under our control,” he added.

In 2011, Moscow and Paris signed a 1.2-billion-euro ($1.3 billion at the current exchange rate) agreement for the purchase of two French Mistral-class helicopter carriers. In 2014, France put the delivery of the Mistrals on hold in response to allegations that Russia was interfering in the Ukrainian crisis. Moscow has consistently denied the accusations.

In August, Paris and Moscow terminated the contract for the delivery.

Last week, France repaid Russia around 900 million euro ($1 billion) in compensation for terminating the Mistral contract. Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa are reported to be among the ships' potential buyers.