Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has welcomed the decision by the French leadership to suspend the delivery of the first Mistral-class helicopter carrier to Russia.
“I thank the French leadership for its responsible decision to suspend the delivery of Mistral (warship) to Russia. It’s important for restoring peace in Europe,” he wrote on his microblog on Twitter late on Sept. 3.
As reported, President Francois Hollande’s office said that France is suspending the delivery of a hulking warship to Russia amid security concerns about Moscow’s actions in neighboring Ukraine.
According to Associated Press, earlier on Sept. 3 Hollande convened a special defense panel and said that despite talk of a possible cease-fire in Ukraine, that’s not enough to allow France to authorize the delivery of the warship.
A source in NATO told Interfax that the North Atlantic Alliance had no relation to the decision. He said that this was a sovereign decision of a NATO member.
Russian state-controlled arms trader Rosoboronexport and France’s DCNS signed a contract on the construction of the first two Mistral-class helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy in June 2011. The delivery of the Vladivostok, the first of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers ordered by Russia, was scheduled for this autumn.
