MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – As tensions rise over the Ukraine crisis, France has found itself wedged between US efforts to drive Russia into a corner and its multibillion-dollar deal with Moscow to sell two Mistral helicopter carriers it has long pinned its hopes of cash and jobs on.
Now US lawmakers are calling on Paris to cancel the sale worth 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) and lease or sell the costly high-tech warships to another NATO member, although it is not clear who could afford them.
Vladimir Yevseyev, Director of the Center for Social and Political Research, called the demand nothing but hot air, since France is not likely to agree to torpedo a deal and pay hefty damages for a breach of contract.
He suggested Washington once again demonstrated its ability to ignore the interests of its allies for the sake of a propaganda stunt.
Yevseyev suggested this was done as part of the ongoing information war and would have no actual follow-through. “I think this move is purely informational and doesn’t pose any real [threat],” he told Rossiya Segodnya International News Agency.
Vadim Kazyulin, Senior Fellow at the PIR Center, a a Moscow-based political think-tank, said it was important for France to deliver on this contract, both in terms of financial gain and its image of a reliable trade partner. “It is important for France’s reputation as a whole,” he stressed.
“France is known for its own stance on the United States and on NATO. I think, in this case France will again demonstrate that they won’t be manipulated,” the expert noted.
The US has said multiple times it opposed the sale of Mistral warships to Russia because it would boost Russia’s military power, including in regions far away from its borders.
Under a June 2011 contract signed between Russia and France, the first French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, the Vladivostok, will be delivered to Russia by the end of the year, while the second ship, the Sevastopol, is due to arrive next year.
The ships are capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 70 armored vehicles, and 450 soldiers and are expected to be deployed with Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
