The United States and Germany and another six NATO countries are among the top 10 recipients of classified exports from Russia that include sensitive items such as arms, ammunition, and military aircraft, Russian media report.
Citing open data from Russia’s Federal Customs Service, the report has revealed that many NATO countries have significantly increased the volume of imports from Russia in 2021.
The top of the list was again reserved for Algeria, the biggest importer of secret goods from Russia in the last two years, followed by the NATO’s Six – the US, Czech Republic, Germany, UK, Estonia, the Netherlands – as well as China, India and the UAE.
The US has also invested a significantly larger sum in Russian exports in 2021 – $841 million – compared to the $706 million in 2020.
The Czech Republic, for example, has increased its Russian imports to $706 million in the first nine months of this year, which is a massive jump from the $102 million for the same period last year.
Yet, the countries mentioned in the latest report are not the only NATO members to purchase Russian military hardware since Turkey, as the shiniest example, has bought the S-400 mobile anti-aircraft weapon system.
Ankara came under fire from its NATO allies for the purchase, prompting the US to sanction Turkey in 2020 despite the Turkish President’s claims Russian S-400 was Ankara’s only option after Washington refused to sell its own ‘Patriot’ system.
India has also faced threats of possible sanctions from Washington earlier this month after Russia began to supply New Delhi with its state-of-the-art missile defense system.
The purchase puts India at risk of sanctions from the US under a 2017 US law aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian military hardware though US Senators urged President Biden to waive sanctions against India, stressing such a punitive measure could endanger growing cooperation.
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