France, Russia to sign Mistral deal on January 25 – Elysee Palace

ITAR-TASS ^ | 1/24/2011 | ITAR-TASS

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

France and Russia will sign an agreement on the construction of two Mistral helicopter ships on January 25 in the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, the Elysee Palace said on Sunday.

Benefits of military cooperation with Russia outweigh possible negative factors, French Defense Minister Alain Juppe said in an interview with Le Monde on January 18.

“NATO allies decided at the Lisbon summit to start cooperation with Russia in the development of a missile defense network. Benefits of strategic cooperation with Russia in the military sphere are much more important than negative factors. This is a common position of France and Germany, which is also shared by the UK with certain reservations,” he said.

“That is why, one cannot criticize France for delivering warships [Mistral helicopter carriers] to a friendly country,” he said.

[Captain Rhino]

Benefits of military cooperation with Russia outweigh possible negative factors, French Defense Minister Alain Juppe said in an interview with Le Monde on January 18.

“NATO allies decided at the Lisbon summit to start cooperation with Russia in the development of a missile defense network. Benefits of strategic cooperation with Russia in the military sphere are much more important than negative factors. This is a common position of France and Germany, which is also shared by the UK with certain reservations,” he said.

“That is why, one cannot criticize France for delivering warships [Mistral helicopter carriers] to a friendly country,” he said.

“While developing relations with Moscow we should be guided with the goal of genuine partnership between Europe and Russia,” Juppe said. “I realize that this is not easy, but the West will have to make a choice between creating a climate of trust in the relations with Russia or stepping back,” he said.

The issue is not creating a climate of trust but rather whether or not Russia is a trustworthy partner.

That will be demonstrated by how Russia chooses to utilize this military technology (with specific reference to the Republic of Georgia).

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the tasting.