Mistral warship "dilemma"

(Baonghean) - Right before the G20 summit, the handover of the French Mistral warship to Russia remains a sensitive question because the situation in Ukraine has become tense again.

On November 15 and 16, President Hollande and Putin will "face off" at the G20 meeting of world leaders in Australia. Russian media quoted an anonymous "high-ranking source" as saying that Russia has given France one week from now until the end of November to deliver the first ship under the contract signed in 2011. The Vladivostok warship is a Mistral-class ship with a price tag of up to 1.2 billion euros. If France fails to fulfill the agreement, Russia has threatened to file a lawsuit with the Financial Court: "We are prepared for many possible scenarios. We will wait until the end of the month before demanding compensation" and "the amount of the contract compensation will be made public." Neither the Kremlin nor the Russian Ministry of Defense has commented, but it is easy to guess that Russia is gradually losing patience.

The Vladivostok remains "inactive" in Saint Nazaire.

French President Francois Hollande has prepared reasons to justify not complying with the contract to sell the ships: the ceasefire must take effect and Russia must respect Ukraine's sovereignty. These were the conditions set out at the NATO summit last September. In the current context, it is difficult to say that these conditions are respected. However, a French official affirmed: the contract to sell two warships to Russia has not been canceled or broken. At the Elysees Palace, the French are still complacent that there is still a lot of time before Russia has the right to demand payment of a penalty for breaking the contract. On Thursday, November 13, during a meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Military Equipment Exports, the administrative procedures for handing over the first Mistral warship did not go as planned. The French calculate that this is the best way to "put pressure on Russia".

In fact, the Mistral warship is not related to the economic sanctions imposed by the EU. But through that, we can see Putin's ability to cause internal division within the European Union. Moreover, this is also the time when Europe is preparing to apply new sanctions against Russia. The official decision will be made on November 17 during the meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. In the meantime, the connection between the 28 countries in the EU is cracking day by day due to the consequences of the sanctions. Especially in the past week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has distanced herself from the new female leader of EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, saying that this is not the right time to strengthen the sanctions. In that tense context, the purchase of the Mistral warship has emerged as a "thorn in the eye". A "small" thorn weighing only 21,000 tons...

Ganoderma lucidum

(According to Le monde)