Russian arms exporter hopes to arrive at compromise on Mistral ships over next two months

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. There are still two months to find a solution on delivery of Mistral helicopter carriers by France, director general of Russia's major arms exporter Rosoboronexport Anatoly Isaykin said in an interview with the Kommersant daily.

The official hopes some compromise solutions will be found in the next two months that can be discussed.

The €1.12-billion contract for building two Mistral class ships for the Russian Navy was concluded in June 2011. The first ship, the Vladivostok, launched in October 2013, was to be delivered to Russia back in November 2014. At the last moment Paris suspended the handover indefinitely saying the crisis in Ukraine was the reason. The Vladivostok has since remained moored in Saint-Nazaire.

It was originally planned that the second vessel, the Sevastopol, was to be handed over to the Russian side in the second half of 2015. However, like in the case with the first ship, the decision on its supply has been yet frozen.