French President Francois Hollande said late on Monday the first Mistral warship would be delivered as planned in October but a decision on a second would depend on Russia's attitude.
A decision on whether to deliver a second Mistral helicopter carrier to Russia will depend on Moscow's attitude over the Ukraine crisis, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday.
Speaking during a dinner with the presidential press corps, Hollande said that a first warship was nearly finished and would be delivered as planned in October, despite strong opposition from France's allies.
"For the time being, a level of sanctions has not been decided on that would prevent this delivery," Hollande said.
"For the time being, a level of sanctions has not been decided on that would prevent this delivery," Hollande said.
"Does that mean that the rest of the contract - the second Mistral - can be carried through? That depends on Russia's attitude," Hollande added.
For the second delivery to be cancelled, EU sanctions would have to be decided at the level of heads of state and government, a French government official said. EU foreign ministers might agree to ratchet up sanctions on Russia when they meet on Tuesday, though targeting deliveries of defence equipment was not planned, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity."For now, France wants the sanctions to be financial, targeted and quick," a presidential aide said separately.
Hollande said that a first warship was nearly finished and would be delivered as planned in October, despite strong opposition from France's allies.
France has come under intense pressure from allies over the sale of the warships with London and Washington renewing their opposition on Monday.
Urging EU countries to stop selling defence equipment to Russia, British Prime Minister David Cameron said going ahead with the warship contract would be unthinkable in Britain.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said earlier on Monday that he doubted France would cancel the contract, which he said would be worse for France than for Russia.
Grybauskaite: "Selling military technology to Russia under current circumstances cannot be tolerated."
AFP & France 24: 22. July 2014
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite
Lithuania’s president has criticized a French deal to sell warships to Russia, saying it shows the European Union compromising its values in order to protect trade ties with Moscow.
Dalia Grybauskaite made the comments in Vilnius today as EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to decide whether to increase sanctions on Russia over the Malaysian plane disaster.
Grybauskaite described that reluctance as "the Mistralization of European policy" -- referring to France's $1.6 billion deal to supply Russia with the two French Mistral warships.
Grybauskaite said selling military technology to Russia "under current circumstances cannot be tolerated."
She also warned that "indecisive" EU policy would mean "a direct invitation for the aggressor to be more aggressive."
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