MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Arms embargo on Russia will be symbolic and will not affect the military potential of the country as a whole, because Russia is practically independent when it comes to military equipment, the Associated Press said on Sunday, citing a report by the Jane's Information Group.
As noted in the report, the European Union exported $583 million of military equipment to Russia last year, which is less than one percent of the country's military budget ($68 billion). Besides, $521 million were spent on two French helicopters Mistral, manufactured specifically for Russia.
Guy Anderson, a senior principal analyst for aerospace, defense and security at IHS Jane's, said that last year Russia was not even among the ten major world importers of defensive military weapons. At the same time, the European Union did not appear among the 10 main buyers of Russian weapons. Instead of importing equipment, Russia focused on its production.
After the crash of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, the United States and the European Union countries are seeking to toughen sanctions against Russia. Earlier at the EU summit, the largest countries of the union - France and Germany – spoke against the embargo on the Russian defense.
In turn, the UK intends to re-announce requirement for the transition to the third level of sanctions, which are supposed to be applied against the entire sectors of the economy. France believes that sanctions should remain on the second level, which is against individuals and individual companies. The United States has already imposed sanctions on a number of Russian companies.
On Thursday, the European Commission and the European External Action Service presented proposals on sectoral sanctions to the member countries. These sanctions are to affect the capital market, the defense industry, dual-use goods, and the export of sensitive technologies in the energy sector. On Tuesday, the EU ambassadors will discuss these legislative proposals.
