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President Dmitry Medvedev, left, and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy attending a press conference after their meeting at the Elysee Palace Monday, March 1.
PARIS — President Dmitry Medvedev, visiting in France, carried an unspoken message to Washington: We don't really need you.
Russia and France took their courtship to a new level in Paris on Monday, entering talks about the sale of four French warships to Moscow, standing together against nuclear-minded Iran and urging a new global financial order.
A key business deal signed during Medvedev's pomp-filled visit Monday — giving France's GDF Suez a 9 percent stake in the Nord Stream gas pipeline project run by — runs counter to efforts by the United States and other European countries to lessen Europe's dependence on Russian pipelines and gas.
It was a theme that ran through comments by Medvedev at a news conference with President Nicolas Sarkozy after their talks in the French presidential palace.
Medvedev, noting that French investment in Russia last year surpassed that of the United States for the first time, said, "That means we are on the right track."
Medvedev hailed Sarkozy's "courage and will" when he sought to negotiate an end to Russia's war with neighboring Georgia in 2008. He said NATO — an alliance that Russia views as a U.S.-driven vestige of the Cold War — was no help in ending that war, but that European partners were.
"What does this show? This shows that we ourselves should solve European issues," Medvedev said.
Sarkozy said, "France defended the interests of Europe. ... We did it without using our army, we did it without threats."
The U.S. government helped Georgia build up its military in the years leading up to the brief war and was seen by Russia as taking Georgia's side in the conflict.
Sarkozy is mindful of the economic and strategic payoffs in closer ties with Russia, despite diplomatic concerns about Russia's sway over its smaller neighbors.
"We want to turn the page of the Cold War," Sarkozy said.
The two presidents said their countries have started exclusive talks toward the sale of four French warships, the Mistral-class tank and helicopter carrier.
Such an arms sale would be the biggest ever by a NATO country to Russia. The ship, which could carry up to 16 attack helicopters, would allow Russia to land hundreds of troops quickly on foreign soil. The possibility has alarmed Georgia as well as the three Baltic countries in NATO — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The sale would amount to "a symbol of trust between our countries," Medvedev said, as Russia seeks to modernize its overstretched and outdated military machine.
Sarkozy sought to diffuse any controversy over the sale.
"Can we say to President Medvedev in the morning, 'Ah, I trust you, vote with us at the Security Council, work with us on the same resolution [against Iran's nuclear program],' then in the afternoon, tell him, 'No no, excuse us, as we don't trust you and we don't work together — we won't send you the Mistral?’" he asked.
With Western impatience growing over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Medvedev said his country is ready to consider targeted new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
"Russia is ready, with other partners, to consider sanctions," he said.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful and designed to generate electricity. France and the United States have called for new sanctions on Iran at the United Nations Security Council where Russia is also a permanent and veto-wielding member.
Medvedev arrived in the French capital by helicopter, landing on the vast esplanade in front of the Invalides museum, where Napoleon is buried. Scores of golden-helmeted Republican Guards on horseback led his limousine across the Alexandre III bridge, named for the second-to-last czar.
Culture is a centerpiece of Medvedev's Paris sojourn: The Louvre Museum is unveiling an exhibit of Russian art from the dawn of the Russian Orthodox Church more than a millennium ago to western-gazing canvases painted under 18th century leader Peter the Great. Medvedev and Sarkozy will inaugurate the exhibit Tuesday.
