MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) – German authorities have withheld approval for nearly 70 applications to the country’s manufacturers for arms exports to Russia amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the Sueddeutsche Zeitungen newspaper reported Thursday.
The report cited an April 8 response by the government to a request sent by the German Green Party. It says the ban on the exports, worth $7.2 million, comes “amid the current political situation.”
Last month, German authorities announced they would not approve deals related to military exports to Russia.
The German government is considering rejecting similar applications that had been earlier approved by authorities, saying that these supplies are “undesirable,” the German newspaper said.
Berlin earlier suspended cooperation between Russia and Germany’s Rheinmetall AG, one of the largest European defense contractors, which is building a military training center for 30,000 soldiers in Mulino, near Russia's Nizhny Novgorod. The construction, under a $138 million dollar contract, was due to be completed this year.
The EU, US and Canada last month imposed targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans, on a number of senior Russian officials and businessmen whom the West accuses of involvement in Crimea's reunification with Russia. A number of Western officials have since been calling for even tougher sanctions on Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that talking in the language of sanctions is “inappropriate and counterproductive” and warned its Western partners about the “boomerang effect” that sanctions would have. A number of EU officials have spoken out against broader sanctions, because they might entail serious political and economic consequences for EU member states.
