I have been posting about the fact that Russia wanted to buy a French made Mistral-class amphibious assault ship! I have posted about the fact that the French agreed to sell said ship to Russia! Now we get to post about France having to defend her decision on why she sold the ship to Russia:
French President – Sarkozy told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a brief meeting on Monday that in his opinion the sale did not pose a military problem because Russia should be treated as a real partner. “One cannot expect Russia to behave as a partner if we don’t treat it as one,” Sarkozy said.
NATO is in Moscow right now and this subject is sure to cause a few rumbles. NATO wants Russian help but wants it on NATO terms. So just days after NATO and Russian officials clashed at the Munich Security Conference, a group of prominent experts from the NATO alliance is to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday. (Feb. 9th 2010)
“French Defense Minister Herve Morin said on Monday it was time to turn the page on Cold War-era antagonisms with Russia and start a new relationship with Moscow through new exchanges.”