"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision
of what is before them, glory and danger alike,
and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."~Thucydides
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Posted on 05/13/2014 11:47:43 AM PDT by mandaladon
The French government is facing pressure from the U.S. over the sale of two warships to the Russian navy, amid reports that Paris plans to push ahead with the controversial deal.
Despite broader efforts by the U.S. and Europe to isolate Moscow over the intervention and unrest in Ukraine, French President Francois Hollande said he plans to go through with a $1.6 billion deal to build warships for Russia, NPR reported.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was scheduled Tuesday morning for a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington. He could face pressure from the State Department and others trying to tighten sanctions on Russia.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steven Warren said the U.S. is addressing this with the French government.
"We have expressed our concerns to the French government over this sale, and we will continue to do so," he said, adding that Kerry and Fabius would "discuss the full range of issues regarding Ukraine."
Ironically, one of the Mistral-class warships the French are looking to build for the Russians would be named "The Sevastopol," after the Crimean port. Russia annexed Crimea in March in a move decried as illegitimate by the international community.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision
of what is before them, glory and danger alike,
and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."~Thucydides
Please support Free Republic
click the pic
I admire people who plan in advance.
Oh, I’m sure that if Obama were to offer to buy the ships at 1.5x what the Russians are paying them, the French would more then happily take the deal.
Hashtag Diplomacy.
Has anybody actually looked up the stats on those ships?
They are not very impressive. The ship is especially inadequate in its defenses - two light twin SAMs and mountings for two turreted 30mm (not included...). No CIWS.
Personally, I’d let the Russians have them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral-class_amphibious_assault_ship
I would not worry, the brand new mighty French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle lost its crew on its shakedown maiden voyage! Lost its prop and nearly dead in the water had to return home.....LOL
Seriously - if the Europeans aren’t worried about Putin, why should we be?
Q: Why does the new French Navy have glass-bottomed boats?
A: So they can see the old French Navy.
What’s Obama going to do, send France a sternly worded “tweet”?
#PleaseStopBuildingThoseShips
France got a good deal from Russia—they know where the money is. Putin face much opposition from Russian ship builders who thought the ships should be built by Russians—not Frenchmen. All this will blow over in a few weeks—China, Iran or someother land will be in the news. Soon Obama will be up to his eyeballs in scandal and Kiev, Ukraine will be on the back pages. Trey G. will root out the problems and find new ones too. Pop the Popcorn as the summer will be filled with scandal and sin. Not a good time to be Obama!
The French fart in Obama’s general direction.
Bingo. America's "smart power" strikes again. .
No CIWS
You wiki wrong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_ship_Sevastopol_(Mistral_class) is one
And http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-630. Compared to phalanx it's like Putin to Obama.
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