Russia says it is ready to take cash from France instead of two warships.
Russia has ordered two Mistral helicopter carriers from France.
But Paris is under pressure from Western allies not to turn them over due to Russian actions in Ukraine.
French President Francois Holland and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the contract when they met in Armenia last month.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on May 15 to a newspaper report that France had made a formal proposal to scrap the deal.
He said the issue was not a major headache in relations betwen the two countries.
"The principle is the following -- either the goods or the money," Peskov said.
According to Russian business daily Kommersant, Moscow has put its spending and losses over the contract at 1.16 billion euros but that Paris was offering to pay 785 million euros.
Peskov did not comment on the details of the report.