France Should Speed Up Mistrals’ Delivery to Russia – French Politician

A prominent French politician believes that with tensions in eastern Ukraine now subsiding France should revive the long-stalled deal to deliver Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia.

“If it was up to me I would have already sent the Mistrals to Russia,” Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of Arise the Republic Party told Sputnik France.

“I think it was a mistake not to deliver the first ship… Besides, I believe we should lift sanctions from Russia now that the situation in Ukraine is getting back to normal.

We should line up the Mistrals as soon as possible,” he said, adding that he hoped the matter would be settled already before summer.

The contract for the delivery of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers was signed by Russia’s arms trader Rosoboronexport and France’s DCNS Company in 2011.

The French side was supposed to hand over the first vessel on November 14, 2014. The date came and went but the ship never arrived. In

December, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls dismissed as ‘premature’ rumors that the deal might fall through. Russia, meanwhile, wants either the ships or its money back.

The US is strongly opposed to the Mistrals’ delivery to Russia.

France, for its part, said it was bound to meet its contractual obligations but conditioned the ships’ delivery on progress in ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

An industry source earlier told RIA news agency that Washington offered Mistrals’ builder, the STX shipyards, a commission to build a cruise liner.