Comment du Jour

Franco/Russian Deal on Disputed Mistral Ships

St. Nazaire, FRANCE—As the high-speed TGV train from Paris slowed down coming into St. Nazaire passing the sprawling shipyard alongside, a little boy in in the seat in front of us became animated and exclaimed,”Look, Mama, there are the big warships!”  The child was pointing to the two massive grey-hulled Mistral helicopter carriers which had been built in France for the Russian Navy, but because of the ongoing Ukraine crisis,  were still marooned in political limbo and at dockside. 

But back in Paris, amidst the summer heat and suspended political theatrics during the August holidays, French and Russian negotiators had reached a deal on the ships’ fate. They would not be joining Vladimir Putin’s fleet as planned because of the continuing political sanctions over Ukraine.  Rather the French government announced compensation for canceling the delivery of the vessels which were paid for and specially fitted for the Russians.  Moscow would be “fully reimbursed” the presidential office stated in Paris; Russia, added “Moscow considers the Mistral issue completely resolved.” 

The two Mistral-type helicopter carriers would stay in France, at least for now. 

Many months of quiet but often acrimonious negotiations, between Francois Hollande’s socialist government and the Kremlin have reached an accord whereby the French government will reimburse the Russians $1.3 billion for the ships. The French will then subsequently keep or resell the Mistral carriers.  Crisis solved…sort of.  

The newspaper Le Figaro headlined, “Mistral: the real cost of compromise with Russia.”

The Vladivostok, which was finished and supposed to sail to Russia last fall, and the Sevastopol, were built at the huge STX shipyards in St. Nazaire.  The deal going back to 2010, brought extra business to the shipyards and needed jobs in a region still dependent on the maritime industry.

Just last Summer this column reported, the port was hosting over 400 Russian sailors who were training on the vessels and preparing to sail them back to their disputed Black Sea bases in Crimea. 

In the past, these very same St. Nazaire shipyards constructed the most famous of French ocean liners such as the Normandie in the 1930’s and the France in 1962. In recent years Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 was built here as well as a dozen major American cruise ships.  

St. Nazaire has a darker side too; during WWII the port just alongside the shipyard housed 

a Nazi submarine base from where U-boats sailed from the Bay of Biscay deep into the Atlantic. The grey concrete bunker submarine pens which remain to this day stand as an eerie reminder of the port’s past and its connections to history. 

So where do the ships go now?   Short term most likely to the northern naval base at Brest. 

Naturally while such modern and militarily versatile naval vessels are in demand there are a few serious questions to be asked. Will France sell them only to NATO countries?  Or other allies?  Most navies could not even operate such vessels nor integrate them into combined naval operations.  Thus realistically potential buyers are very few. 

Hints that China would be allowed buy such a vessel were quickly squashed.   

Let’s look at the short list.  France can and should bring one of these ships into its fleet. While the French navy has an aircraft carrier, another such smaller and more versatile naval platform would be perfect for operations and contingencies in the Mediterranean.  The French Navy has the expertise and the capacity to operate such vessels but with the declining defense budgets, would the current socialist government be so wise as to make this investment?

For the second vessel, the Sevastopol, which will be finished later this year there are only a few countries which have the credentials and the capacity to operate such a carrier.  The USA would profit from a Mistral without question, and given the U.S. Navy’s expanding role but overstretched number of ships, such a vessel would be perfect for Marine amphibious operations.  I don’t know if the Defense Department would buy (or be politically allowed to purchase), a foreign-built vessel.  Same goes for the British.

Few other NATO navies beyond Canada and Italy are really up to the technical challenge to deploy such a ship.  Beyond the Atlantic Alliance sphere what about Australia?   

The Mistral boasts the capacity to hold twelve attack helicopters, sixty armored vehicles, and 700 Marines, an ideal platform for versatile and rapid force projection. 

Until then, France will be looking for buyers lest the Mistrals becomes the Flying Dutchmen. 

Comment du Jour

Russia Blocks Inquiry on Malaysian Airliner Downing

In a callous but not unexpected move to block an international inquiry on the fate of Malaysian flight #17 which was shot down over Ukraine just a year ago, Russia has vetoed a resolution which would have set up a tribunal to investigate the disaster which killed 298 civilians.  The Malaysian civilian airliner, a Boeing 777, was shot down by a Russian supplied BUK missile  allegedly fired by Russian-backed separatists fighting the Ukraine government.  Moscow blames the Ukrainians for the disaster.

Eleven of the Security Council’ s fifteen members backed the draft resolution which would have set up a international tribunal to investigate the tragedy.  Besides Russia’s veto, China, Angola and  Venezuela predictably abstained on the vote.  

U.S./UN Ambassador Samantha Power stated bluntly, “Russia has callously disregarded the public outcry in the grieving nations.”  

The flight which originated in Amsterdam, was en route in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;  a majority of the people killed were Australian or from the Netherlands.  Last year following the tragedy, the UN Security Council approved a resolution condemning the incident and demanding that those responsible be brought to justice. 

The Malaysian sponsored draft resolution, co-sponsored  by Australia, Germany, the Netherlands among others included a proposed statute for a “International Criminal Tribunal for Malaysian Airlines Fight MH 17.”

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders stated, “our purpose remains to create a timely, depoliticized and credible mechanism to ensure that the perpetrators face justice and are held to account.”  He expressed his “deep disappointment” over the Russian veto to stop the process.    

The MH 17 airliner was flying at 33,000 feet over a rebel held region of eastern Ukraine where both Russian backed separatists and Ukraine government troops were involved in heavy fighting.  

Why Moscow-supported separatists would even have access to or for that matter know how to operate a high altitude surface to air missile is a question. Equally in the midst of a bitter ground battle, why would either side decide to randomly fire upon a civilian airliner passing six miles above?   Though Moscow has accused the Ukrainians, most evidence points to the missile being fired by the rebels.

So here’s the point.  If Moscow is so convinced the Ukraine government forces committed the atrocity, why not then allow an impartial inquiry to gather evidence and try to prove the case?  Russian delegate Vitaly Churkin, in a lengthy rebuttal, asserted, “What are the grounds to be assured of the impartiality of such an investigation?”  He countered, what he called “aggressive propaganda in the media.”  

But by blocking such an impartial investigation the finger of guilt, by default, points to Moscow. 

Still Russia would rather face a lingering media presumption of guilt rather than an internationally established verdict of guilt. 

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully stated that while the Council had pressed for a consensus resolution he lamented that this is not a case “which can be seen in shades of grey; either we follow a path of accountability or there is impunity. ” 

Germany’s delegate Harald Braun put the matter in perspective, “Today this Council has utterly failed the victims, the families and the friends of the 283 passengers and 15 crew members killed, among them 4 German citizens, in the downing of MH 17.  But this does not mean that the perpetrators can triumph and hope for impunity.  We the grieving nations, will not rest until they are held accountable.”  

Ambassador Power warned, “The United States believes firmly that those who carried out this unspeakable crime cannot remain unnamed and unpunished…there cannot and will not be impunity.” 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin added rhetorically; “There can be no reason to oppose this unless you are a perpetrator yourself.”