France cancels warship contract with Russia

Paris: France says it has reached an agreement with Russia to cancel the contract for the sale of two French warships.France will fully refund Russia for the amount the country has already paid, the French president's office said Wednesday in a statement, without giving the figure.[caption id="attachment_2382582" align="alignleft" width="380" class=" "] File photo. Vladivostok warship in France. AP[/caption]The delivery of a Mistral-class warship to Russia was suspended last year over the Ukrainian crisis. A second French-built warship which was part of the deal was due to be delivered to Russia later this year.The 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) deal was supposed to be the biggest arms sale ever by a NATO country to Russia.The Mistral-class vessels can carry 700 troops, 16 helicopter gunships and up to 50 armored vehicles.AP