Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and spokesperson of the Egyptian Embassy in Moscow Ayman Moussa denied the claims of Poland’s defence minister saying that Egypt plans to sell two Mistral warships to Russia for $1.
Polish defence minister Antoni Macierewicz reportedly said during a parliamentary debate on Thursday that he had obtained information from “good sources” that Egypt will sell the two French-made Mistral warships to Russia. Macierewicz added that “if Egypt would now withdraw from this operation, it would be a gain for world peace”, and a good lesson for Russia.
In response to those statements, Peskov said on Friday in an interview that they are “complete nonsense”, adding that the “good sources” of Macierewicz are not reliable.
Moussa also said that the claims of Macierewicz are not true, adding that he cannot comment on such statements when Egypt is currently agreeing with Russia on military equipment for the Mistrals.
France originally built the two Mistral ships for Russia; however, after the latter’s occupation of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine, France announced that the ships will instead be sold to Egypt.
The relations between France and Poland are also tense following Poland’s cancellation of a $3.5bn deal to buy French military helicopters.
Egypt is the first country in the Middle East to have Mistral warships. In February 2015, it also announced an agreement with France to buy 24 French Rafale fighter jets.
