Support The Moscow Times!

Britain Still Exporting Arms to Russia, Report Shows

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron attends the re-opening of the newly renovated Imperial War Museum in London. Luke MacGregor / Reuters

While Britain has revoked many licenses for arms exports to Russia, including those for sniper rifles and body armor, a parliamentary report said export deals worth more than 168 million pounds were still outstanding.

A report compiled by four of parliament's select committees found Britain had more than 5 billion pounds ($7.4 billion) worth of outstanding arms export licenses for countries on the government's human rights concern list, including Russia.

"There is an inherent conflict between strongly promoting arms exports to authoritarian regimes whilst strongly criticizing their lack of human rights at the same time," the Committees on Arms Exports Controls said in its report.

John Stanley, chairman of the committees, said arms export licenses to Russia, which were criticized by the committees in their 2014 report, were still "a major issue of concern."

The committees said in the report 248 licenses worth more than 168 million pounds of arms exports to Russia were still outstanding.

They included licenses for components for military helicopters, small arms ammunition and software for secure communications.

"We would take the view that anything that goes to the Russian government could end up being used in Ukraine," Stanley said.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more