Egypt agrees to buy Mistral warships France built for Russia

Egypt is to buy the two Mistral warships that France built for Russia before scrapping the sale over the conflict in Ukraine. The French government said that no losses would be incurred on the deal.

French President François Hollande and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi "have agreed on the principle and terms and conditions of Egypt's acquisition of the two Mistral class vessels", a statement by the French presidency said.

France was left with the helicopter-carriers on its hands after cancelling the deal to comply with European Union sanctions on Moscow over its annexation of Crimea and support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The total deal was worth 1.2 billion euros and the 950 million euros Russia had already handed over are to be paid back.

The lower house of the French parliament endorsed the cancellation last week but opponents predicted it would lead to the loss of millions of euros.

But government spokesperson Stéphane Le Foll "totally refuted" the claim that there would be any loss at all on Wednesday.

About 10 countries were reported to have expressed interest in buying the state-of-the-art warships.