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Moscow is still continuing talks with Paris on the purchase of a Mistral-class warship. The French government has approved the sale but Russia has not yet made a final decision. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit France on March 1-3 but the deal will not be signed during the visit, a source in the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. Russia plans to buy one Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, worth 400-500 million euros (around $540-$675 million), and subsequently use their know-how to build three or four vessels of the same class in partnership with the French naval shipbuilder DCNS. "We would...

ON ONE LEVEL, maybe it's not surprising that France would sell an ultramodern helicopter carrier to Russia's navy, even as Russia continues to occupy illegally a sovereign nation that enjoys, at least in theory, good relations with France. After all, times are tough. Three-quarters of a billion dollars is three-quarters of a billion dollars. And France has never hidden its inclination to submerge principle when it comes to maintaining a profitable commercial relationship with the nation that supplies so much of Europe's oil and gas. Still, we do find it surprising -- maybe because we remember French President Nicolas Sarkozy's...

French warship to Russia: Risky precedent or a cruise ship painted gray? The US and other NATO allies worry that the French sale of a $750 million Mistral warship to Russia will set an arms-trading precedent. But analysts say the ship does not yet represent the transfer of cutting-edge technology to Russia By Robert Marquand Staff writer / February 11, 2010 Paris The sale in principle of a French assault ship to the Russian navy brought a stir this week – as the first military deal by a NATO member to Moscow, one that helps Russia’s ailing fleet, and one...

France defended on Monday its decision to sell an advanced warship to Russia, shrugging off concerns that the helicopter carrier could threaten Georgia and arguing that Moscow had to be treated with respect. Russia asked to buy the 21,300-tonne, Mistral class warship to modernise hardware that was exposed as outdated during its five-day war against Georgia in 2008. After months of debate, France finally announced on Monday it would sell the vessel to Russia for an undisclosed sum. President Nicolas Sarkozy defended the decision during a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was paying a flying visit to...

MOSCOW – Moscow plans to buy a French amphibious assault ship, the first such purchase from a NATO country, as the Kremlin seeks to reaffirm Russia's global reach, a Russian news agency reported Saturday. The Defense Ministry also plans to license the production of four more ships of the Mistral class in Russia under the guidance of French engineers, Navy Admiral Oleg Burtsev was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. A Mistral ship is capable of carrying more than a dozen helicopters along with dozens of tanks and other armored vehicles and is fit for missions intended to project Russian...