French President Francois Hollande says an agreement has been reached with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to purchase the two French Mistral helicopter carriers that were originally built for Russia.
Hollande's office said on September 23 that the two countries have "agreed on the principle and the terms" of the sale of the warships.
The multibillion dollar deal with Moscow for the warships was postponed last year due to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the Kremlin's support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.
France canceled the deal earlier this year and agreed to repay Moscow some 1.2 billion euros ($1.32 billion).
France already uses three Mistrals and had no use for the two ships -- which had been named the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol.
