CAIRO (Sputnik) – Earlier on Friday, the French Le Monde newspaper said that Saudi Arabia and Egypt were interested in buying the two Mistral ships that France built for Russia under a now-terminated contract.
"It is very hard to imagine that Egypt would conduct military operations in areas where helicopter carriers would be needed. Arab countries are located on the shores of the Red and the Mediterranean seas, that’s why Egypt and Saudi Arabia do not need such ships,” Khalaf told RIA Novosti.
He added that military equipment was usually purchased dependent on potential use.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Francois Hollande terminated the 2011 contract on construction and delivery of Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Moscow.
Paris suspended the delivery of the first ship in 2014, citing Moscow's alleged participation in the Ukrainian conflict as the reason behind the move.
