Brussels, 13/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - Despite the agreement obtained by the French, German, Russian and Ukrainian leaders on Thursday 12 February, France's President François Hollande said the same evening that he did not think the conditions had yet been met for France to deliver the Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia.
The first of the two Mistrals was due to have been delivered in November, but its delivery was postponed due to the conflict in East Ukraine. “The delivery is not linked to the [European] sanctions but if everything is put in place [Ed: the points of the agreement], the sanctions will be eased. France will be able to be involved in the process, but we are not there yet”, he said at the end of the informal European Council.
Earlier in the day, a Russian diplomatic source had told Russian news agency Interfax that the French Presidency “could issue an order on the delivery of the Mistral from the beginning of the week” of 16 February “so that the ship is fully ready for delivery to the Russian party in the first half of March”. (Camille-Cerise Gessant and EH)