France has suspended the delivery to Russia of the first of two Mistral helicopter carrier ships, due to events in eastern Ukraine.
“The president of the Republic has concluded that despite the prospect of ceasefire, which has yet to be confirmed and put in place, the conditions under which France could authorise the delivery of the first helicopter carrier are not in place,” said a statement from the office of President Francois Hollande as cited by Reuters.
The two ships were commissioned by Russia in 2011 at the cost of $1.6 billion. The first of these, the Vladivostok, was due to come into service at the end of this year, with the second, the Sevastopol, due to be completed in 2015.
