Ukraine has called on France not to transfer the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers that are being built under a contract with Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vasyl Zvarych said at a press briefing on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
“We are insistently calling for the implementation of the Mistral
contract to be suspended. All judicial and legal grounds for this are in
place,” he said.
This contract may be put on hold in compliance with criteria set by
Article 2 of the arms export rules that were adopted by the Council of
Europe on Dec. 8, 2008, Zvarych said.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said that Russia acts as aggressor
and all international partners admit this. Handing the Mistrals over to
Russia would mean creating new threats for the Black Sea region and the
entire Euro-Atlantic community.
Zvarych said that Russian Naval Chief, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky
earlier said that if in August 2008 Russia had helicopter carriers of
the Mistral type, Russia would place its army in Georgia in 40 minutes,
and not in 26 hours.
“Here is the real illustration of real plans of Russia regarding
Mistrals – to use them in their aggressive occupation policy,” Zvarych
said.
“The sale of the Mistrals to Russia would come as an undesirable
signal of Russia’s impunity for violations of international law and
aggression the victims of which were, for example, Georgia in 2008 and
Ukraine today,” he said.
“If Russia receives Mistrals, the answer to the question ‘who is
next’ could come from Moscow very quickly, unfortunately,” he said.
France is a responsible international partner that has always honored
its international commitments, Zvarych said, adding that Paris may find
it difficult to back out of the Mistral contract.
“However we believe that the cost of international security and
democratic values, the cost of freedom and lives of peaceful people is
higher than 1 billion euros.”
An agreement, which was signed by the Russian and French governments
in 2011, stipulates that the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers
should be handed over to Russia in 2014. Furthermore, the agreement
permits the construction of another two such vessels at shipyards in
Russia. Unofficial reports put the cost of each Mistral helicopter
carrier at approximately EUR 600 million.
The European Union imposed economic sanctions on Russia on July 29,
admitting that the measures would not affect any previously signed
contracts.
France planned to transfer the first Mistral-class ship to Russia in
the fall of 2014. Paris, however, said later that it would honor its
obligations if these deliveries were not subject to EU sanctions.
