The French firm responsible for delivering the first of two Mistral class helicopter carriers to Russia is no longer picking up the phone to Russian officials, Ria Novosti reports.

The news service quotes a high-ranking defence source as saying of the French firm:

"They remain silent, there is no contact with them. They are to hand it over on [November] 14, but they remain silent."

Delivery of the ship, the Vladivostok, has been thrown into doubt due to Western sanctions over Russia's part in the ongoing Ukraine crisis. Last month, however, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister in charge of the defence industry and prominent nationalist, released a letter on Twitter purportedly from French arms industry company DCNS that stated the handover ceremony of the Vladivostok would continue as planned on 14 November in Saint-Nazaire.