ISLAMABAD/STOCKHOLM: United States arms exports rose to 40 per cent from 33 per cent, while European countries shore up their imports of significant weaponry by 47 per cent in the last one year, a leading think-tank said on Monday.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year also prompted European countries to bolster their defences and weaponry.
“Even as weapons transfers have declined internationally, those to Europe have risen sharply due to the tussle between Russia and other European states,” Pieter D Wezeman, a researcher at the SIPRI, said.
SIPRI counted aircraft, warships, artillery, tanks, missiles, and various heavy defence systems as main weaponry that the European countries imported. European countries in the United States-led NATO bloc increased their arms imports by 65% in the last five-year period. But worldwide, world arms transfers fell by 5.1%, according to SIPRI.
US and Russia world’s largest arms exporters
The US and Russia have been the world’s largest and second-largest arms exporters for the past three decades.
“It is likely that the invasion of Ukraine would further limit Russia’s arms exports,” SIPRI’s Siemon T Wezeman said. “This is because Russia would prioritise supplying its armed forces, and demand from other states will remain low due to sanctions on Russia.”
