Mr. Saakashvili said that selling <b>Mistral</b> to Russia is “very unusual and very risky”, as “with 3 Mistral warships, Russia can easily seize any Black Sea country.”
Earlier, Russian Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky voiced regret that Russia did not possess Mistral in August 2008. “We would be able to deploy our forces in Georgia during some 40 minutes,” he said.
With an estimated cost of up to 500 million euros, Mistral is an assault ship that can carry troops, helicopters and armored vehicles.
