The position of the Russian Ministry of Defense. 2010:
June 2011. Russia signs a $1.2 billion contract, a significant portion of which is paid upfront:
2014. Immediately after France's decision that the Mistrals could not be delivered to Russia because of the international situation:
Well, that's something.
First you sit in the State Duma (the lower house of Russia's parliament), head the Defense Committee, and approve a budget that allocates billions for the purchase of the "Mistrals." Then you go on to call those same "Mistrals" "tin cans."
And if the French change their minds again, are we really going to spend $1.2 billion on those "tin cans"?