Saturday, May 16, 2015

France Offers 785 Euro to Russia for Mistral Contract Cancellation

France has offered Russia its terms to scrap a contentious contract to supply two warships that was suspended due to the Ukraine crisis, but Moscow judged the sum as unacceptable, a report said Friday.

Russian defense sources told Kommersant newspaper that the French side is willing to pay €785 million ($890 million), and the documents are now "being studied" by the Russian government, defense ministry and other relevant parties which participated in the 2011 deal.

But the daily reported that Moscow was not happy with the French offer, with the defense ministry claiming that Russian firms have now incurred 1.16 billion euros of costs associated with the ships.

The fate of the two Mistral helicopter carriers has plagued French-Russia ties for over a year, following the decision by Paris to put the 1.2 billion euro deal on ice as the West slapped sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and alleged backing for separatist rebels in Ukraine.

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