France risks “international ridicule” if it delivers a warship to Russia despite the Malaysia Airlines disaster, but its intentions remain unchanged in the immediate aftermath.
The ship, a “Mistral” assault vessel which forms part of a €1.2 billion contract, is to be sent to Russia in October, with the French navy currently training Russian sailors how to use it at the port of St. Nazaire in Normandy.
The US and some EU states had already criticised the deal before the air crash...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.