European nations will decide on whether or not to impose further sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine depending on events in coming hours, French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday.
"Tomorrow at the European Council ... we will announce sanctions and put them into action if there is no progress (on Ukraine), but everything will depend on the coming hours," Hollande said at the start of a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Hollande also reiterated that a contract to sell Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia was not broken or suspended but would depend on events in upcoming weeks.
Russia's industry minister said earlier that Moscow still expected France to provide it with two warships, despite a decision by Paris to hold off on delivery for now because of the
Ukraine crisis.
Russian officials accused France of bowing to U.S. pressure by suspending delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carriers on Wednesday and questioned its reliability as a trade partner.
But Industry Minister Denis Manturov told Interfax news agency: "Russia assumes that the contract will be fulfilled according to the agreements."
French President Francois Hollande had for months resisted pressure from Washington and other allies to scrap the 1.2 billion euro ($1.58 billion) contract to deliver two Mistral helicopter carriers.
On the eve of a NATO summit, his office said on Wednesday France would hold off on delivery of the first warship. It accused Russia of actions in Ukraine which ran "against the foundations of security in Europe".
"Where are the times when Paris did not cave in to pressure from the United States, as, for example, over Iraq?" Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook.
Under President Jacques Chirac, France, like Russia, opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that ended Saddam Hussein's rule.
Zakharova described France's decision over the warships as a disgrace and said it was just as well late French leader Charles de Gaulle had not witnessed it.
"France's reputation as a reliable partner that carries out its contractual obligations has been thrown into the furnace of American political ambitions," she wrote.
Moscow has sought to play down the impact of Hollande's decision, saying France would suffer a bigger economic blow than Russia.
"If the contract is unilaterally terminated, the money will definitely be returned to the Russian side and fines and penalties will be paid," Oleg Bochkaryov, deputy chairman of the government's Military-Industrial Commission which helps oversee the defence industry, told Interfax.
He said France was likely to have problems finding a new buyer as the vessel was built according to Russia's requirements and with Russian equipment.
"If the contract is suspended, the French side's headache will be worse than ours," he said.
REUTERS