S-300 missile delivery on hold

The European Commission has proven itself utterly powerless whenever it is confronted by the Kremlin. This is partly due to the nature of the behemoth in Brussels, and partly because Russia has little interest in making concessions to a polity that it sees as being only temporary.
 
Certain European leaders, notably Angela Merkel, recognise this, and so they seek unilateral agreements with Moscow, and generally get the best deals for their countries. It is this unilateral approach that means the common European energy policy, discussed again in Brussels this week, is unlikely to ever come to fruition.
 
Sarkozy also plays the game well, and will be delighted that it was during talks in Paris this week that Prime Minister Putin announced that the Kremlin will not be supplying S-300 surface to air missiles to Iran. This will play very well in Washington and Tel Aviv, although Tehran will be wondering exactly what is the point of signing contracts with Russia, although they are not alone in that respect.
 
Complacency would be unwise, however, as closer inspection reveals that what the Iranians were actually told, is that the missiles "will not be delivered yet".