Kremlin says Russia and France agree on refund for Mistral

Paris and Moscow have agreed on and amount of the penalty France will have to pay Russian Federation for not delivering the Mistral helicopter carriers, and the date on which it must be paid, thus bringing the negotiations to conclusion.

President Vladimir Putin lifted the suspension in April after a framework Iran nuclear agreement, which earlier this month was followed by the final deal, which curbed Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions stifling its economy. He wouldn’t give the figure, saying it will be announced when the contract is cancelled.

‘Important decisions on this matter will be made the end of the summer, ‘ Valls said. The first ship was due for delivery in 2014, with the second to be delivered this year.

The Mistral contract dates back to a June 2011 agreement reached under the previous French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.

President Francois Hollande’s office declined to comment, as did DCNS, one of the main contractors building the Mistrals.

Hollande had stated earlier this yr that the circumstances for the supply have been “nonetheless not proper” and prompt that exclusively the complete implementation of a tenuous ceasefire in japanese Ukraine might make Paris revisit the state of affairs.

The compensation deal was clinched last week at talks between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and French Defense Secretary-General Louis Gautier, Kommersant said.

France’s trained Russian sailors aboard the first Mistral last year in the French port city of Saint-Nazaire.