" The President of the Republic considers that the current situation in eastern Ukraine still does not allow the delivery of the first BPC (Bâtiment de projection et de combat). He has therefore decided to postpone, until further notice, the examination of the request for authorization to export the first BPC to the Russian Federation ."
As a reminder, the military ship was to be delivered in October but because of the current situation in Ukraine, the delivery is constantly postponed. The Russian Deputy Defense Minister announced that there was no question, for the moment, of taking France to court.
Even though there is talk of a loss of several billion euros for France, it is negotiating with Poland for the delivery of combat helicopters which would bring in 4 billion euros. For the moment, nothing has been decided and Validimir Putin, who loves power relations, is being served with the French actions.
A look back at the saga of the delivery of the first BPC
It all began in 2011, under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, with the sale of two Mistral ships to Russia. The STX shipyards in Saint-Nazaire inherited the construction, worth 1.2 billion euros. Delivery is scheduled for December 2013.
With the war in Ukraine and the attachment of Crimea to Russia in March 2014, François Hollande is hesitant to suspend the arms contract. Despite pressure from Western countries and particularly the United States, the president says the contract stands since it was concluded in 2011.
In September, in view of the situation in Ukraine, the French president decided to finally suspend the delivery of the Mistrals. This will only be put back on the agenda on the condition that a cease-fire is established and the Ukrainian crisis is resolved. It must be said that the United Kingdom and the United States continue to press for the cancellation of the contract. Russia informs us that France will face a heavy penalty if it does not honor the delivery ( Read the article )
At the end of October, Russia claims to have received an invitation to visit the Saint-Nazaire shipyards and that the first delivery will take place on November 14. This is a real cacophony since Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Defense, had announced a statement by François Hollande on this subject in November.
