French President Francois Hollande announced on July 28 that France is obliged to comply with the signed contract, and affirmed that he will make a decision on whether or not to hand over the Mistral warships to Russia "in the next few weeks".

French Mistral-class warship during a visit to Shanghai, China on May 9. Photo: THX/TTXVN.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, President Hollande said discussions were ongoing and he would make a final decision in the coming weeks. Under a 1.2 billion euro contract signed in 2011 under President Nicolas Sarkozy, France is to build two Mistral-class helicopter carriers for Russia. These are 180 meter long, 22,000 ton warships capable of carrying 16 helicopters, dozens of armored vehicles and military vehicles, and up to 700 soldiers. The first ship, named "Vladivostok", was scheduled to be delivered to Russia by November 2014 at the latest, while the other, named "Sevastopol", was to be delivered in 2015. However, at the end of November last year, amid tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine issue, France decided to postpone the delivery of the two ships to Russia and set a condition that the contract would only be implemented when Russia "shows a positive role" in helping to end the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Observers believe that France's suspension of the delivery of the first Mistral warship to Russia at the end of last year was due to pressure from the US and its Western allies.

Since then, the situation has not developed in a favorable direction for the decision to hand over the warships between France and Russia. France is considering the possibility of reselling the two warships to new customers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will not punish France for violating the contract to deliver the Mistal ship, but will ask Paris to reimburse Moscow for the costs it is currently paying.

According to Russian media sources, France has proposed to change the contract for the delivery of two Mistral ships, refunding Russia 785 million euros on the condition that France can resell the two warships. However, Russia still demands that France pay all costs, including the cost of training sailors and rebuilding the port of Vladivostok, where the first Mistral ship is planned to be used as a base.

According to VNA