“Forget the shame of the Mistrals: France raised the issue of resuming military-technical cooperation with Russia

The deputy of the French parliament from the "National Association" Jose Evrar called on the country's authorities to think about resuming dialogue and trade with Russia in the military-industrial sphere. A corresponding request, the text of which was read to RT, a member of the National Assembly sent to the Minister of Armed Forces of France, Florence Parley.

The parliamentarian drew the attention of the head of the Defense Ministry of the Fifth Republic to the fact that Paris is trading in military equipment with some "features". He stated that France sells ships, planes, helicopters, tanks and other weapons of Saudi Arabia, which uses them in the ongoing military conflict with Yemen since 2015.

Against this background, Evrard recalled that at one time the French authorities at the final stage of implementation terminated the contract for the construction and delivery of two airborne helicopter carriers of the Mistral family for the Russian Navy. Thus, the parliamentarian noted, Paris adheres to double standards in the field of arms trade.

“It turns out that there are good customers (who sell weapons to them. - RT ) ethically, and others who (weapons. - RT ) do not deliver because they are unworthy. Obviously, the ethical conditions for the supply of military equipment must be handled with great care, ”Evrar said.

“It is a pity that the outstanding members of the current government were no less outstanding in the government, which refused to supply Russia. This clearly showed a significant part of the international community that France has more partners than clients in these areas, ”Evrard emphasizes.

In connection with this state of things, the deputy in his request wonders what measures the French government can take to resume dialogue and trade with Russia and "make the Mistrals" forget and forget the surprises and shame as quickly as possible.

Recall that a contract for the supply of two Mistral-type helicopter carriers in the amount of € 1.2 billion was concluded between the French DCNS / STX and Rosoboronexport in January 2011. Both ships - Vladivostok and Sevastopol - were launched, and in November 2014 the first helicopter carrier was to be transferred to the Russian side.

However, the then president of the country, François Hollande, decided to suspend the contract, connecting it with the events in Ukraine. In mid-2015, the agreement was broken at the initiative of Paris. France later agreed to transfer the Mistrals to Egypt. After the trial, the Russian side was paid compensation in the amount of about € 950 million.

In 2018, Hollande, in a conversation with the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, called that decision a signal aimed at “putting Russia in front of the need to be responsible.”

“We could not support the country when it resorted to aggression,” Hollande said, after which Poroshenko thanked him for refusing to implement the Mistral contract with Moscow.

• Ex-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko with former French leader Francois Hollande
• Reuters
• © Stephane Mahe

Under pressure from the USA

Commenting on the events of 2014 - 2015, the director of the Institute of the Newest States, Alexei Martynov, in an interview with RT noted that then the contract with Russia that was economically beneficial for France was terminated by Paris under unprecedented pressure from Washington.

“On the one hand, the supply of these Mistrals was clearly of a political nature in the sense that Russia concluded a contract at an obviously overestimated price and for the sake of political aspects. On the other hand, everyone remembers the unprecedented political, economic and moral pressure from the United States on France to refuse to supply these helicopter carriers, ”the expert recalled.

“This“ Mistral case ”is an example of a torn deal that is economically viable for French manufacturers and a demonstration of the pressure policy of the United States,” Martynov emphasized.

He also noted that the question of the need to purchase ships of this type from France is not for Russia now, since the country is able to cope with the implementation of such tasks on its own.

The pressure that other states exerted on Paris during the decision on a deal with Moscow was discussed in the French parliament back in 2015. So, the speaker of the Senate Commission, Robert del Picchia, said that the Mistral contract, in particular, due to pressure from NATO countries.

“There was strong external pressure from the countries of Eastern Europe in the framework of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Poland threatened France to suspend negotiations on a deal for the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters in the amount of € 2.5 billion in case of transfer of helicopter carriers to Russia, ”said Picchia.

• Reuters
• © Christian Hartmann

“No need to risk money”

In turn, speaking about the current state of military-technical cooperation between Russia and France, a military expert, retired colonel Viktor Litovkin noted that Moscow has no contracts in this area with Paris, not so much because of the situation in Ukraine, but because France’s membership in the North Atlantic Alliance, whose activities are aimed at “opposing” Russia.

However, as the interlocutor of RT stated, in France more and more clearly they begin to feel the absence of a sovereign course, therefore in the republic proposals for the resumption of cooperation with Russia begin to sound.

“Paris cannot make independent decisions on certain issues without receiving approval from Washington or Brussels, which is beginning to bother the French. So they are trying to say that they can act in Europe without looking back at their so-called senior patrons. But I'm not sure that Russia is ready with France to conclude any contracts in the military field, because we do not need to risk our money. Russia has very serious partners with whom it has been cooperating for many years. This is, first of all, China, India. Yes, sometimes there are difficulties with them, but these are serious, predictable partners who bring almost 40-50% of our arms exports. Moreover, with India, for example, we have projects on the joint production of military equipment and weapons, and this is a very promising area today, ”the expert emphasized.

Note that the other day, the French leader Emmanuel Macron, in a speech on the country's foreign policy, called for a thorough "shuffle of cards" in relations with Russia. The President said that in order to build a pan-European strategy regarding Moscow, it is necessary to develop an “honest and demanding dialogue” with her.

Other French politicians are also talking about the importance of resuming a full-fledged dialogue between the two countries. The same Jose Evrard called for “an end to anti-Russian hysteria”, and presidential candidates in France in the 2017 elections, Marine Le Pen and Francois Fillon advocated the abolition of the sanctions policy and the establishment of relations with Moscow.