Russia Expects France to Make Final Decision on Mistral Ships by Year-End

Russia might file a lawsuit with the European Court of Arbitration to seek damages from France over the Mistral delivery issue, Russian presidential aide said.

MOSCOW, December 4 (Sputnik) — Russia expects France to make its final decision on the Mistral ships deal known before the turn of the year, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Kozhin told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"We will hopefully get their final say by the end of the year. It has been preliminary until now. We're doing the calculations. The sum is quite big, to the tune of billions [of dollars]," Kozhin said.

He added Russia might file a lawsuit with the European Court of Arbitration "next year" to seek damages from France.

Russia and France signed the $1.5 billion deal for two Mistral-class helicopter carriers in June 2011. The first carrier, the Vladivostok, is now expected to join the Russian Navy by the end of 2014, while the Sevastopol is due to arrive in Russia in 2015.

The handover of Vladivostok had originally been slated for November 14, but France blew the deadline, with President Francois Hollande linking the failure to the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine. Russia condemned France's failure to deliver on its contractual obligations, saying that Paris would have to pay a large penalty if the deal was canceled.

Getting Your Mistral's Worth

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