The crews will remain in Saint-Sazer until the final decision on "Mistrals" • Grani.ru • RIMA

The crews will remain in Saint-Sazer until the final decision on "Mistrals"

The helicopter carrier of the Mistral class. Photo from the site www.rfi.fr

Russian sailors from crews of helicopter carriers of the Mistral type will not leave the French shipyard in Saint-Sazer until the final decision on the fate of the ships. This was reported by Interfax with reference to a military-diplomatic source.

"What will be the final decision on helicopter carriers is difficult to say. But one thing is obvious: the crew will stay in the sen -nazer as much time as it will need to unequivocally solve the issue with the helicopter carriers," the source noted.

“The political decision on“ Mistrals ”is a prerogative of not only France,” the agency’s interlocutor added. “This, as the people say, is a stick about the two ends.”

Earlier it was reported that Russian sailors will return home before the end of the year.

On November 25, French President Francois Hollande said that he still did not see the opportunity to convey the first helicopter carrier of Mistral Russia. "The President of the Republic believes that the current situation in the east of Ukraine still does not allow the transfer of the first HPP (military designation of a ship of the type" Mistral. - Ed.). Therefore, he considered it appropriate to postpone to new orders to study the request for the necessary permission for the export of the HRC to Russia, ”the communique said.

The next day, Deputy Minister of Defense, Yuri Borisov, said that Russia could well do without Mistrall . "The helicopter is not a necessary element for the development of our Navy, but the money that we will return in the form of an advance payment we have already paid, we will find where to spend more rationally," he said. According to the deputy minister, if the ship is not transferred in the near future, the entire Russian crew of 400 people who trained in the Saint-Sazer will be withdrawn back.

The crews of both Mistrals have been in Saint-Sazer on June 30 and live on board the Smolny training ship. They trained ships to manage and were already entering the sea aboard Vladivostok.