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| France Denies It Agreed to Deliver Mistral-Class Warship to Russia | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| PARIS — President François Hollande’s government on Thursday disputed a Russian claim that France was preparing to hand over the first of two Mistral-class warships in mid-November. | PARIS — President François Hollande’s government on Thursday disputed a Russian claim that France was preparing to hand over the first of two Mistral-class warships in mid-November. |
| “The conditions have not today been met for delivering the Mistral,” Finance Minister Michel Sapin told RTL radio. Those conditions, he said, are a return to normal in Ukraine and “that Russia play a positive role there.” | “The conditions have not today been met for delivering the Mistral,” Finance Minister Michel Sapin told RTL radio. Those conditions, he said, are a return to normal in Ukraine and “that Russia play a positive role there.” |
| “From a certain point of view,” Mr. Sapin said, “things are going better, but there are still concerns. So today, the conditions aren’t met.” | “From a certain point of view,” Mr. Sapin said, “things are going better, but there are still concerns. So today, the conditions aren’t met.” |
| He spoke a day after RIA Novosti, a state-controlled news agency in Russia, quoted Dmitri O. Rogozin, the deputy prime minister of Russia, as saying that Rosoboronexport, the Russian organization responsible for importing military goods, had received an invitation to take delivery of the first helicopter carrier on Nov. 14 and to attend the so-called floating-out ceremony for the second. | |
| “From a technical point of view, the contract is being fulfilled on schedule,” Mr. Rogozin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. “It’s up to President Hollande now to make a political decision.” | |
| France signed a deal in 2011 to build two Mistral-class helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy. The agreement, worth 1.2 billion euros, or $1.5 billion, called for the first warship to be delivered in 2014. The ships carry helicopters, troops and landing craft, and they would give Russia the ability to project force — that is, carry out invasions — across its neighboring seas. | |
| France’s allies have been, at best, ambivalent about the deal. Robert M. Gates, the former United States defense secretary, had tried to dissuade the administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy from helping to modernize the Russian military. Mr. Gates argued that it “would send the wrong message to Russia and to our allies in Central and East Europe.” | France’s allies have been, at best, ambivalent about the deal. Robert M. Gates, the former United States defense secretary, had tried to dissuade the administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy from helping to modernize the Russian military. Mr. Gates argued that it “would send the wrong message to Russia and to our allies in Central and East Europe.” |
| Mr. Hollande has sought to honor the contract to preserve jobs at the STX France shipyard in the port city of St.-Nazaire. But Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March and its encouragement of separatists in eastern Ukraine have made it politically impossible to hand over the ships without a significant de-escalation of tensions. | |
| DCNS, the French contractor responsible for building the warships, sought to clarify the situation in a statement Thursday morning. The company said it was “still awaiting the required export authorization to be granted by the French government.” | |
| “For this reason DCNS is not in a position to indicate any date for the handover of the ship at the current stage,” it continued. | |
| On Wednesday, Mr. Rogozin posted a photograph on Twitter of what appeared to be an invitation letter to Anatoly Isaikin, the head of Rosoboronexport, from Pierre Legros, a senior vice president in DCNS’s surface ships and naval systems division and a member of the company’s executive board. | |
| In the letter, Mr. Legros thanks Russia’s Defense Ministry for having accepted a modified delivery date and adds, “Accordingly, it is now my pleasure to invite you personally to this ceremony, which will take place on Nov. 14, 2014, in St.-Nazaire.” | |
| The day’s itinerary includes “transfer of ownership and delivery act signature on board the Vladivostok.” | |
| DCNS could not immediately be reached for comment on the Twitter post. |