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France says not enough conditions for delivering first Mistral ship to Russia

France and other Western countries allege that Russian troops are fighting on the side of east Ukrainian self-defense forces

PARIS, September 03. /ITAR-TASS/. France does not see enough conditions for supplying the first Mistral ship to Russia, President Francois Hollande said Wednesday as he addressed a meeting of the country’s Security Council, the presidential press service said.

The issue of the Mistral was discussed at the meeting as part of analysis of the situation in south-east Ukraine.

France and other Western countries allege that Russian troops are fighting on the side of east Ukrainian self-defense forces.

A statement issued by the presidential press service described the situation in eastern Ukraine as grave. It also said the actions ostensibly undertaken by Russia recently ran counter to the main principles of security in Europe.

“The President of the Republic has concluded that that despite the prospect of ceasefire, which is yet to be confirmed and put in place, the conditions under which France could authorize the delivery of the first helicopter carrier are not present,” Hollande’s press service said.

A contract worth €1.12 billion for building Mistral helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy was signed in June 2011. 

French authorities have been saying so far they did not see any impediments to finalization of the contract over the Mistrals. They indicated that the EU sanctions against Russia, which envisioned restrictions on defense cooperation, among other things, did not affect the agreements signed prior to the effectuation of these restrictive measures.