France suspends delivery of Mistral warship to Russia

French President Francois Hollande announced his government has suspended the delivery of the Mistral helicopter carrier warship that was planned for this fall, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported. Hollande met on Sept. 3 with France’s defense committee and they reached the conclusion that “adequate conditions don’t exist to deliver the first helicopter carrier to Russia.” NATO didn’t influence the decision, said an anonymous high-ranking NATO official quoted by the news agency.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin welcomed the French government’s decision. “I thank French leadership for its responsible decision to suspend the delivery of Mistral to Russia,” he tweeted. “Important for restoring peace in Europe.”

The French government’s decision to suspend the Mistral delivery increases tensions between the two countries, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov responded on Sept. 3, as reported by the ITAR-TASS news agency. “The Defense Ministry doesn’t see an exceptional tragedy in this, though of course, it’s unpleasant and adds a certain tension in the cooperation with French partners,” he said. “But the denial of this contract won’t be a tragedy for us in our rearmament plans and fulfilling the state armament program.”

Zenon Zawada: The Mistral suspension carries as much symbolic value as it has military value. France has traditionally been among Russia’s most sympathetic EU partners. The clear loss of support from such a traditional ally is a sanction in and of itself that will serve to pressure the Russians further.