Friday, May 16, 2014

France’s Sale of 2 Ships to Russians Is Ill-Advised, U.S. Warns

In 2010, the French struck a deal worth more than $1.6 billion with Russia to sell two large naval vessels that were built to carry troops, helicopters and serve as a landing craft. The initial problem was that France was unsure how they could sell something so important but tell the world that they still do not trust Russia. As Russia as intervened in Ukraine, the deal is still set to be on track and go through in October. Regardless of US objections, the deal is still on track with the delivery of ships later this year.

On Tuesday, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that his government would still decide in October whether to proceed in the delivery of the ships to Russia. However, John Kerry has openly stated that the sale was not helpful to what is going on in Ukraine. Despite Kerry disagreeing with the deal, he has not demanded that the sale be cancelled. It will be interesteing to see the action of the French as we move forward.

For more information, here is the link to the full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/world/europe/frances-sale-of-2-warships-to-russia-worries-us.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimesworld&_r=0

-Mike Prosia




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