Another conflict? France has decided to postpone the shipment of a warship to Russia amid months of speculation that this is going to be the largest arms sale by a NATO country to the Kremlin, reports Huffington Post.
On Tuesday, the France-Russia warship deal was officially suspended after French President Francois Hollande's office made an the announcement of doing so "until further notice."
Hollande said back in September that given the continued violence in Ukraine, the French are not willing to make warship deliveries to Russia because of the foreboding risks.
The warship that was meant to be delivered within this month is the Vladivostok, which is currently docked at the French port city of Saint Nazaire.
Nearly 400 Russian sailors have been training aboard the Vladivostok for months now, and it isn't clear what how France's decision is going to affect their training.
The decision is said to be a product of the increasing tension and pressure over Russia's actions in Ukraine.
The major repercussion of the postponed France-Russia warship deal is the eventual fines France needs to pay for not following the contract they made.
Meanwhile, another French warship, the Sevastopol, is set to be delivered next year. It has already arrived at the Saint Nazaire docks and is undergoing some finishing touches.
The Sevastopol is also affected by the suspended French-Russia warship deal, as per Hollande's official statement.
Nevertheless, the French government is reportedly reluctant of giving up the warship deal contract since it would cost them over 1 billion euros and will likely affect thousands of jobs amid an economic slump.
Fortunately for France, Russia's ambassador told The Associated Press that they are not demanding any compensation for any delays since there's a grace period stipulated in the contract.
So what happens when the grace period has ended? Alexander Orlov says, "France will have to either hand over the ship or return the sum that we paid. That's it."
Two weeks prior, Russia threatened France for breach of contract, warning of "serious repercussions" if they fail to ship the Vladivostok this November, according to The Guardian.
But now, Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov is saying a different tune when he said that they are willing to "wait with patience [since] everything is specified in the contract, and we will act under that contract, just like all civilised people do."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
