REUTERS
France has agreed to sell two Mistral helicopter carriers to Egypt after their sale to Russia was cancelled in August and will not incur a financial loss in the transaction, government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said, according to Reuters.
"They agreed on the principle and the terms of the acquisition by Egypt" of the two Mistral warships, President Francois Hollande's office said in a statement after he spoke to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Reuters reports.
An Egyptian delegation had been in Paris over the last few days to negotiate the price.
Cairo has sought to boost its military power in the face of a two-year insurgency based across the Suez Canal in the Sinai peninsula and fears the conflict in neighbouring Libyacould spill over. Egypt's allies are also keen to burnish its image in a region beset by turmoil.
"I completely refute what has been indicated by some that there will be a loss with regard this agreement compared to the hypothesis of a sale to Russia," Le Foll told reporters.
As UNIAN reported earlier, France repaid EUR 950 million to Russia on cancelled Mistral deal.
The contract was initially cancelled due to Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and its further support for the militants in eastern Ukraine.