Russia has given France the green light to sell two Mistral helicopter carriers to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. France was supposed to deliver the carriers to Russia before both countries terminated the contract last month.
According to a report by Russian-language newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, quoted by Russia Today’s Arabic service, France paid Russia more than one billion euros in compensation for the non-delivery. The deal was terminated after Russia halted payments for the ships following the European sanctions imposed on the country for its alleged involvement in the political crisis in Ukraine.
Moskovsky Komsomolets quoted military sources as saying that Egypt had shown interest in purchasing the first carrier with the help of a Russian loan, while the UAE was interested in the second one.
Russia Today quoted presidency spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that his country hopes France, now free to use the ships after settling its dues, would take Russian interests into account when reselling the warships to a third party.
