Russia has given the French government a choice, either deliver the two promised Mistral-class amphibious warships to the Russian Navy or refund the purchase price of the $1.53 billion program, a Russian foreign policy official told reporters on Monday.
“Both options will suit us — either the ships or the money. The money spent must be recovered,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Monday, following a quickly organized Saturday meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President François Hollande in the Moscow airport.
Delivery of the two custom built variants of the 21,000-ton French Mistral amphibious warships to Russia has been stalled by the Hollande government since September over concerns of the ongoing fighting between Russian backed separatists and the Ukrainian government.
Hollande said the delivery of the two ships would be tied to the implementation of the so-called Minsk Protocol — a September ceasefire agreement between separatists, Russia and Ukraine.
“The delivery of the helicopter carriers to Russia is connected with implementation of the Minsk accords,” Hollande said according to French newspaper Le Figaro.
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