Economic sanctions haven’t slowed Moscow’s foreign arms sales, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday, boasting that his nation’s weapons exports actually increased dramatically in 2019.
At a meeting of the country’s Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign Countries, Mr. Putin said that Russian arms sales increased to $13 billion this year, compared to about $11 billion last year.
“Despite sanctions and unfair competition, Russia’s position in the global arms market is getting stronger,” the Russian leader said.
Russian arms companies now have orders from foreign nations totaling about $50 billion, Mr. Putin said, suggesting that economic sanctions from the U.S. and other world powers haven’t succeeded in clamping down on Russia’s weapons sector.
The most high-profile of Russian weapons sales this year was Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 missile defense system. That massive deal has driven a wedge between Washington and Ankara, with the Pentagon ending Turkey’s participation in the U.S. F-35 program as punishment.
U.S. officials say the F-35 and the S-400 are incompatible systems, and there are fears that Russia could gain access to American military secrets if the two systems are used together.
As of 2017, Russia accounted for roughly 10% of the entire global arms market, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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