MOSCOW
The delivery of the first of a pair of helicopter carriers to Russia will be completed soon, a Russian delegate at a European arms fair has told Russian news agency Itar-Tass.
The Russian representative's comments on Thursday came after French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said the "conditions are not met" for delivery of the two Mistral warships in November, contradicting earlier Russian news reports.
Speaking at the international naval show Euronavale-2014 in Paris, the representative said: "We will receive Vladivostok in the near future. The warship is staying in Saint Nazaire with a fully prepared crew and is ready to set out onto the sea as soon as all formalities are finalized."
- Heightened tension
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin - quoted earlier by Russian news agency RIA - was reported as saying Moscow would take delivery of the first of the pair of Mistral vessels on November 14.
RIA earlier quoted Rogozin as saying that state arms exporter Rosoboronexport had been invited to France to attend the handover ceremony of the first carrier to be delivered under a €1.12 billion ($1.6 billion) contract signed by Paris and Moscow in June 2011, during the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy.
The controversy comes amid heightened tension between NATO and Russia since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March.
www.aa.com.tr/en
