A decision on whether to deliver a second Mistral-class helicopter carrier to Russia will depend on Moscow’s attitude over the Ukraine crisis, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday.
Speaking during a dinner with the French presidential press corps, Hollande said that a first warship was nearly finished and would be delivered as planned in October, despite strong opposition from France’s allies.
“For the time being, a level of sanctions has not been decided on that would prevent this delivery,” Hollande said.
“Does that mean that the rest of the contract — the second Mistral — can be carried through? That depends on Russia’s attitude,” Hollande added.
For the second delivery to be canceled, EU sanctions would have to be decided at the level of heads of state and government, a French government official said.
NO PLANS
EU foreign ministers might have agreed to ratchet up sanctions on Russia when they were to meet yesterday, though targeting deliveries of defense equipment was not planned, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“For now, France wants the sanctions to be financial, targeted and quick,” a presidential aide said separately.
Diplomats in Brussels said earlier that EU foreign ministers were unlikely to punish Russia over last week’s downing of an airliner over Ukraine beyond speeding up the imposition of individual sanctions that had already been agreed upon.
France has come under intense pressure from allies over the sale of the warships, with London and Washington renewing their opposition on Monday.
‘UNTHINKABLE’
Urging EU countries to stop selling defense equipment to Russia, British Prime Minister David Cameron said going ahead with the warship contract would be unthinkable in Britain.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said earlier on Monday that he doubted France would cancel the contract, which he said would be worse for France than for Russia.
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
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