Deal Cancelled: What Will Paris Do With Russia's Mistrals?

Russia will provide equipment, including helicopters, for the two Mistral carriers which Egypt will receive from France.

The removal of Russian radio-electronic systems from the French-built Mistral-class helicopter carriers commissioned but not received by Moscow is completed, a shipbuilding company DCNS spokesperson said Monday.

The company has a special helicopter, the Ka-52K, designed specifically for Mistral vessels.

Russia will supply equipment and helicopters worth over $1 billion for the Egyptian Mistral helicopter carriers, the Kremlin chief of staff said Monday.

Two Mistral-class helicopter carriers France originally built for Russia will arrive in Egypt in summer 2016, the shipbuilding company DCNS said Friday.

Cairo and Paris signed on Saturday a contract for purchase of two French-made Mistral-class helicopter carriers that were not delivered to Russia.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi on Tuesday thanked French President Francois Hollande for his assistance in securing a deal for the resale of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers originally built for Russia, the Egyptian leader’s press office said in a statement.

French President Francois Hollande confirmed Wednesday that France and Egypt had reached a deal on the delivery of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers.

French President Francois Hollande confirmed Wednesday that France and Egypt had reached a deal on the delivery of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers.

Finally sold! Now that Egypt agreed to buy the Mistral-class helicopter carriers built for Russia, France can breathe a sigh of relief.

According to earlier media reports, France will sell the two vessels, initially set to be delivered to Russia, for 950 million euro (over $1 billion).

Egypt has made no official comment regarding its potential purchase of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers France originally built for Russia, a spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces told Sputnik on Wednesday.

France's President Francois Hollande and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Sisi have agreed on Egypt's acquisition of two Mistral-class ships, the French leader's administration said Wednesday.

A high-profile Egyptian delegation is currently in Paris for talks on the purchase of the two Mistral-class amphibious ships originally built for the Russian navy, the French newspaper La Tribune reported.

Paris expressed hope that a deal on selling two Mistral-class helicopter carriers initially built for Russia to a new buyer would be ready in the coming weeks, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

The French parliament’s vote on the Mistral refund deal was a slap in the face of the heroes of the Normandie-Niemen fighter regiment, who fought alongside Soviet airmen during WW II, a French MP said on Thursday.

France's failure to deliver two Mistral warships to Russia came at a high cost to Paris: the country suffered both financial and image losses, French politician Claude Goasguen asserted during a roundtable discussion at the French-Russian Dialogue Association.

The bill was passed with 13 against eight votes.

The decision by the French government to cancel the delivery of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia would seriously damage France’s reputation, Aymeric Chauprade, a member of the European Parliament and a geopolitical analyst, said.

The negotiations between France and potential buyers of the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers that were initially constructed for Russia are being held in "good conditions", French Foreign Minister claimed Tuesday.