“The FSMTC has sent an inquiry to the DGA [Direction Generale de l’Armement] in order to receive an official response to the issue,” the official told RIA Novosti.
The official said that Russia could not accept oral explanations from individual French politicians of why the warship was not delivered on time, even if that politician is the country’s president.
According to the terms of the $1.5-billion contract signed in June 2011, the Russian Navy was due to receive the first of the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers, the Vladivostok, from Paris by November 14. However, French President Francois Hollande put the transfer on hold, citing Russia's alleged role in the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.
Moscow has repeatedly denied its involvement in the Ukrainian conflict and warned Paris that it would face large penalties should it fail to deliver on its contractual obligations.
An armed conflict in Ukraine erupted in April 2014, when Kiev launched a military operation to suppress independence supporters in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions who refused to recognize the new central government that was brought to power following a coup in February.
The ceasefire deal between the warring parties in Ukraine’s Donbas region was reached during Minsk talks in September 2014. However, both Kiev and independence supporters in the country’s east have claimed numerous violations of the ceasefire regime, accusing each other of breaking the truce.
