The Mistral-class helicopter carrier Vladivostok is seen at the STX Les Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard site in Saint-Nazaire, September 4, 2014. Stephan Mahe/Reuters Russia has given up on its €1.2 billion deal for two Mistral-class helicopter carriers with France, according to a report on Sputnik, the Russian news service.

Now France has two giant warships on its hands that no one wants.

Following Russia's alleged role in supporting separatist militia in eastern Ukraine, French President François Hollande had imposed two conditions necessary for the sale. These were:

1. That a cease-fire that was being observed by all sides.

2. Tangible evidence of progress toward a political settlement over Ukraine's future.

Neither of those conditions were deemed to have been sufficiently met in order to complete the transfer of the Mistral ships.

All that remains now is for the two sides to agree on a compensation package for Moscow.

In recent weeks Moscow has taken a firm, if conciliatory, stance on the Mistral deal. Last month President Vladimir Putin announced that his officials did not intend to seek any penalties or fines from France over the postponed sale but instead would seek only repayment of the costs incurred on the Russian side if the sale were to fall through.



Russian state-owned Sputnik News quotes Oleg Bochkaryov, a deputy chairman of the Russian military industrial complex, as saying: "We're now discussing just one thing — the exact sum of money France owes Russia."

However, that would still leave France with the problem of who to sell the ships to. Both the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol, which are currently stuck in the port of Saint-Nazaire, have been built to Russia's specifications and could cost millions to convert.

Earlier this month Chinese media latched onto reports that the Dixmude landing vessel — the first Mistral-class ship to visit a Chinese port— was among a group of French vessels that was visiting Shanghai. This sent the rumour mill into overdrive, with claims that France is using the trip as a way to show off the vessel ahead of a possible sale.

The evidence for this theory, however, remains weak and there would be concerns that such a sale could risk the ships falling into Russian hands — a scenario that could embarrass Paris. Nevertheless, if the reports are true the saga of the Mistral ships is far from over.