France must prove the seriousness of its intentions as a reliable partner; otherwise, Russia will be able to build Mistrals by itself, RIA Novosti reports with reference to Deputy prime-minister of Russia, Dmitry Rogozin.

"The French party must prove the seriousness of its intentions as a serious partner and reliable contractor. If they fail to do so, we will do it (build the ships) on our own. Now we are capable of doing it", — Rogozin said.

"The construction of dock ship itself is a matter of large-scale assembly. We already have such technologies. Moreover, if we keep working in this area we will likely start assembling the ice-class vessels as distinct from Mistrals designed mostly for Mediterranean Sea and warm climate", — he added.

The contract for delivery of two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russian navy worth €1.2 billion was signed in June 2011. The first vessel “Vladivostok” should be put into service in 2014, the second one (Sevastopol) – in 2015.