Russian arms exports in 2011 were again record-breaking and targets set for 2012 will also be exceeded, said Sergei Chemezov, general director of Russian Technologies, Interfax reported Wednesday. Arms exports in 2011 "will be somewhere around $12 billion...

U.S. and Russian negotiators will hold talks this year on issues ranging from missile defense to cyber security, hoping to set the stage for a renewed arms control push once elections are over in both countries. WASHINGTON — U.S. and Russian negotiators will hold talks this year on issues ranging from missile defense to cyber security, hoping to set the stage for a renewed arms control...

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Russia will not stop selling arms to Syria, a top defense official said Thursday, as Moscow stands by its longtime ally despite mounting international condemnation over the Syrian regime's crackdown on an uprising. Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said his country is not violating...

...," he said. The drive to modernize Indian forces was long overdue, as much of its equipment was obsolete Soviet-era weapons, and the orders for fighter jets, naval frigates, helicopters and armaments have made India the world's largest importer of arms. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9 percent of all the world's weapons imports in 2010, the latest year for which figures were available. Last week's order of 126 combat aircraft, won by France's Dassault...

Russia is counting on President Bashar Assad to keep his grip on power to see through potential arms contracts worth up to $6 billion and help Moscow reach a record defense export year, according to the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, or CAST. Russia is counting on President Bashar Assad to keep his grip on power to see through...

A Russian ship suspected of delivering munitions to Syria in violation of an EU arms embargo after an unscheduled stop in Cyprus has anchored off Turkey's coast. A Russian ship suspected of delivering munitions to Syria in violation of an EU arms embargo after an unscheduled stop in Cyprus has anchored off Turkey's coast...

As the violent standoff between Syria's security forces and armed opposition groups roils the country, the crisis has opened heated divisions at the United Nations Security Council. As the violent standoff between Syria's security forces and armed opposition groups roils the country, the crisis...

Two masked robbers armed with what appeared to be a pistol, held up a Moscow post office branch Monday morning and made off with 2.5 million rubles ($83,000), in the second successful robbery of a city post office since Friday. Two masked...

... jets to Syria, Kommersant reported Monday, in apparent support for President Bashar Assad and open defiance of international condemnation of his regime's bloody crackdown. The newspaper, citing an unidentified source close to the Rosoboronexport state arms trader, said the $550 million deal envisions the delivery of 36 Yak-130 aircraft. A spokesman for Rosoboronexport refused to comment on the report. If confirmed, the deal would cement Russian opposition to international efforts to put pressure...

A judge has upheld the conviction of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout — also known as the Merchant of Death — but said his prison conditions seemed "harsh" and "brutal." NEW YORK — A judge has upheld the conviction of Russian arms dealer...

The armed forces have ceased buying new Russian-produced armored vehicles and have given military contractors five years to develop new models. The armed forces have ceased buying new Russian-produced armored vehicles and have given military contractors...

... League proposal to station peacekeepers there. Russia is open to the alternative, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that Russia would not support the peacekeeping plan unless there was a halt to violence by both government forces and their armed opponents. He suggested that the latter would be tough to achieve. "The tragedy is that the armed groups that are confronting the forces of the regime are not subordinate to anyone and are not under control," Lavrov said. "A halt...

An established arms-producing plant fired four employees — including its deputy director for safety — after a stockpile of Kalashnikov rifles was mistakenly sold to a pensioner for $15 last month. An established arms-producing plant fired...

Time for reaching an agreement over U.S. and NATO plans for a European missile shield is running out, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday, but stressed that talk of a new arms race between Moscow and Washington is greatly overblown. Time for reaching an agreement over U.S. and NATO plans for a European missile shield is running out, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday, but stressed that talk of a new...

... world with the aim of getting rid of Arab regimes it dislikes," wrote Primakov, a Middle East expert who has also been Russia's foreign minister and spy chief. Lavrov said the draft resolution put too little pressure on the opposition and "armed extremists," who Russia says must share blame for the bloodshed that has killed more than 5,000 people since Assad launched a crackdown on protests 11 months ago. "Such a resolution would have meant the Security Council was taking the...

... Tartus is now the only naval base Russia has outside the former Soviet Union. A Russian Navy squadron made a call there this month in what was seen by many as a show of support for Assad. For decades, Syria has been a major customer for the Russian arms industries, buying billions of dollars' worth of combat jets, missiles, tanks and other heavy weapons. And Assad's regime paid cash. Kommersant reported this week that Syria has ordered 36 Yak-130 combat jets worth $550 million. Korotchenko said...

... groups to sit down at the negotiating table," Lavrov said. Lavrov blamed both Assad's regime and opposition forces for instigating the violence that has killed thousands of people since March. "On both sides there are people that aim at an armed confrontation, not a dialogue," he said. His remarks indicated that Russia, which vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution supporting an Arab League call for Assad to quit, has not changed its stance on Syria following his meeting with...

... biased and would promote "regime change." Russia's United Nations envoy, Vitaly Churkin, accused the resolution's backers of "calling for regime change, pushing the opposition toward power and not stopping their provocations and feeding armed struggle." "Some influential members of the international community, unfortunately including those sitting around this table, from the very beginning of the Syrian process have been undermining the opportunity for a political settlement...

... reported Friday. The 57-year-old man said he bought them from a truck driver for 500 rubles to heat his home. The fully functional rifles, produced in 1959 and 1960, were on their way to a recycling plant from Izhmash, one of the country's oldest arms-manufacturing plants, the company said, when they wound up in the man's possession. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, appointed in December by President Dmitry Medvedev to oversee the country's defense industry, said he would open a probe into...

... of investigative measures." "Police are taking all necessary steps to locate and detain the criminals," the police department said Friday in a statement . "The opening of a criminal case under Article 162 of the Criminal Code, 'armed robbery,' is being decided." On Friday afternoon in downtown Moscow, robbers armed with a compressed-air gun shot a 51-year-old cash delivery man at close range in the stomach, stealing $320,000 from him outside an Esidbank branch, Life News...