This was reported by Reuters on Friday with reference to a Russian source close to the talks.
As Russian news agency RBC wrote, French President Francois Hollande who met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Yerevan, Armenia, recently said that a decision on the Mistrals hadn't been made at that moment.
At the same time, during his call-in show on April 16, the Russian president said he hoped that the French side "will return our money." He said that Russia would demand neither fines nor penalties from Paris, but would insist that all incurred expenses be compensated.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Paris on April 22, Hollande said that the supply of French-made Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia was impossible under the current conditions. "As far as I know, I can say that the supplies of Mistrals are impossible now," Hollande said. At the same time, he stressed that France would pay compensation if the helicopter carriers weren't delivered to the customer.
As UNIAN reported, a contract for the supply of two helicopter carriers was concluded by Russia and France in 2011. The first vessel was scheduled to be delivered in 2014. In November 2014, Hollande suspended the process of the delivery due to the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the Donbas conflict in eastern Ukraine.
