MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that France’s refusal to deliver two Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Moscow over the Ukraine crisis would not affect its defence capabilities.
“Of course not delivering the ships according to a valid contract is a bad sign, but from the point of view of supporting our defence capabilities, to tell you frankly, this has no importance.”
Putin said the main reason Moscow signed the €1.2 billion deal for the two massive ships in 2011 was to show goodwill and give jobs to France’s Saint-Nazare shipyard on the Atlantic.
“We signed these contracts at the time …read more
Source: theSun
