The West has slapped stringent sanctions on Russia in response to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, believed by the U.S. and others to have been shot down with a Russia-supplied Buk missile system by eastern Ukraine rebels. While the introduction of financial sanctions will create the most immediate squeeze on Russia, it is the crack-down on the arms trade which has triggered debate. Future imports and exports between the EU and Russia are now banned -- but existing contracts, including France's $1.6 billion Mistral-class warships deal, are allowed to go ahead. But Russia is one of the few countries in the world that is nearly self-sufficient in its defense production, according to IHS Jane's expert Guy Anderson. So will the arms embargo have an impact?
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As part of its sanctions against Russia, the EU has cracked down on the arms trade with Moscow
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But Russia is one of the few countries in the world that is nearly self-sufficient in its defense production
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In the short-term, the arms ban is unlikely to have a significant impact on Russia's military might
Russia is, by comparison, the world's second largest military exporter after the @placeholder, earning $13.2 billion from arms exports last year.
In the long term, he said, Russia could feel pain from losing access to the latest high-tech defense electronic systems developed in the @placeholder.