Moscow, Paris Discuss Return of Russian Mistral Ships' Equipment - Source

During this week consultations in Moscow, Russia and France discussed the situations related to the return of Russian equipment which was installed on the ships, a source said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia and France held a new round of consultations on the Mistral-class helicopter carriers earlier this week in Moscow, discussing the return of Russian equipment which has already been installed, a military-technical cooperation source told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"At the round of consultations held this week in Moscow, the sides discussed the force majeure situations related to the return of Russian equipment which was already installed on the ships," the source said.

According to the source, the return of the two ships' afts, which were built at Russia's Baltic Shipyard and already installed on the Mistrals, were not discussed.

"The talks were, in particular, about the communications systems, which should be returned to Russia in the same condition in which they had been delivered to France [initially]," the source added.

Russia and France signed a $1.5-billion contract for the purchase of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers in 2011. However, in November 2014, France canceled the contract, citing Moscow's alleged participation in Ukraine's internal conflict. Kremlin has repeatedly denied these groundless claims and pushed for peace in the war-torn nation.

Earlier, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the country's government was encouraged to end the Mistral deal during the October 2014 visit to Washington.

Le Drian confirmed that the failure to fulfill the contract with Russia is costing the French economy $1.3 billion.