Why? France isn’t a slave to Russian gas.
What leverage does Puty have?
What leverage does Puty have?
They have none. Putinist Russia is SOL. If Russia presses for damages the EU will ensure that Russia is indicted for unlawful warfare. That will void the contract. Putin’s hybrid war on Ukraine only works if the EU is willing to be willfully blind. So Putin will back off on the Mistral issue. He’ll only lose and he knows that.
Multi-billion dollar contracts for French military hardware.
The problem with France isn’t that Putin might have leverage. The problem with France is that it’s filled with French people.