9 February 2010 / AP, PARIS
France has agreed to sell Russia an advanced amphibious warship and is considering a Russian request for three more, French defense officials said on Monday.
It would be the first major arms deal between Russia and a NATO member. French President Nicolas Sarkozy approved the sale of one Mistral assault ship after months of discussions, but then Russian naval officials submitted a request for three more, said Jacques de Lajugie, head of international development at the French arms agency DGA. “We are in the process of examining” this new request, de Lajugie said at a news conference, predicting a decision in the coming weeks. He said the new request came not at the “political level” but from the general staff of the Russian Navy. Among outstanding questions in the deal are where the Mistral would be built, de Lajugie said. No details about price were released. Possessing a Mistral, which can carry 16 helicopters, would significantly increase the Russian military’s capability to mount quick offensives. France sent a Mistral, which weighs 23,700 tons (21,500 metric tons) and is 980 feet (299 meters) long, to visit St. Petersburg last year in a clear sign of interest in a potential sale. NATO members and Russia have had some small, country-to-country technology deals in the past but this would be the first sale of a major piece of equipment by a NATO nation to Moscow. The prospect of the deal has alarmed some ex-Soviet countries.
