French President Eyes Selling New Ships To Russia

The French President Francois Hollande is eyeing to sell new ships to Russia despite canceling Mistral-class helicopter carrier deal.

"Things went well with Russia, which has agreed to cancel the contract. And I even think we'll get partnerships for new ships," Hollande said on Tuesday during his visit to the shipyard of Saint-Nazaire in western France on board one of the warships, (Vladivostok, one of the Russian ordered Mistrals).

He didn't specify whether they would be military ships. Neither did he say if Russia is willing to buy anything from France in the future, Sputnik reported Wednesday.

The inscription of the name on the warship’s hull has been erased and replaced by grey paint.

Egypt emerged as France’s replacement customer for Mistrals in September 2015 after Moscow and Paris had terminated the $1.3-billion contract in August as Paris accused Moscow of alleged participation in the internal conflict in Ukraine.

The ships are supposed to arrive in Egypt in summer 2016 but first they should be de-equipped of Russian-developed command, control and communication systems.