Posts
Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Georgia are reported to be angered by France's $1.3 billion USD deal to sell 2-4 Mistral class amphibious assault ships with their sophisticated technology to Russia.
It represents the first military purchase between a NATO nation and Moscow. It is also Russia's biggest military purchase since the end of the Cold War.
Lithuania's Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene criticized the decision to sell "extremely complex offensive weaponry to a third party, a country where the level of democracy is not one we can feel safe about. It's a big mistake."
An unnamed diplomat told Le Monde newspaper: "The damage to France's image is considerable. The capital of political sympathy that Nicolas Sarkozy has garnered since 2007 in these regions has disappeared with this Mistral business."
