US hails French delay on Russia warship

The United States has hailed France’s announcement that it is cancelling delivery of a warship to Russia for at least until November.

The Vladivostok, the first of two warships ordered by Russia, was due to be delivered next month as part of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) contract that covers the construction of two helicopter carriers by the French state-owned military contractor DCNS and the French shipbuilding company STX. Each ship can carry 700 soldiers, 16 helicopter gunships, and about 50 armored vehicles.

Responding to intense US pressure, France announced on Wednesday that it would not deliver the Vladivostok to Russia in October as planned and would review the sale in November.

“We believe this is a wise decision,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The US has criticized France for planning to sell the warships to Russia, saying the deal would be “inappropriate” given Moscow’s alleged role in the Ukraine crisis.

“Clearly we think it’s completely inappropriate and we’ve told them they should not do it,” US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters in Washington on July 22. “We don’t think anyone should be providing arms to Russia.”

She added that Washington had voiced its concern over the deal in recent days to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

The United States and Russia are at loggerheads over Crimea, with Washington accusing Moscow of orchestrating an “illegitimate referendum to annex Crimea” and fuelling unrest in eastern Ukraine.

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