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Putin says France must reimburse costs for undelivered warships

Moscow will not impose a penalty against France for its decision not to supply two Mistral helicopter carriers due to sanctions, but expects that the country will reimburse the related costs, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions of Russians on live television, April 16, 2015, Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions of Russians on live television, April 16, 2015, Moscow. Reuters/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin
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"It is necessary that all costs we have incurred are covered," Putin said in his annual televised phone-in with the nation. "I assume the current French leadership and the French generally are good people and will return our money."

He also stressed that France’s failure to deliver the warships would not undermine Russia's defence capabilities.

In fact, the main reason that Moscow signed the 1.2-billion-euro deal in 2011 was to show goodwill and to help give jobs to France’s Saint-Nazare shipyard, he said.

"We signed these contracts at the time primarily to support our partners and to give work to their shipyard, though in principle were planning to use (the helicopter carriers) in the far east," he said.

France was due to deliver the first warship last year but the deal was put on hold as Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis led to sanctions against Moscow by the European Union.

Putin expressed disappointment in the deal falling through and said it puts into question the “reliability of our partners”.

"Of course not delivering the ships according to a valid contract is a bad sign, but from the point of view of supporting our defence capabilities, to tell you frankly, this has no importance," he said.

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