Many US allies have in the recent past purchased weapons from Russia, which is the second-large arms exporter in the world.
Russia has sold its weapons to 166 of the 190 UN-member countries, according to the Rosoboronexport, the only authorized exporter of Russian arms.
US ALLIES CONTINUE BUYING WEAPONS FROM RUSSIA
The principal buyers of Russian weapons are India, Vietnam, China and Bangladesh in Asia; Iran and Iraq in the Middle East; Algeria in Africa and Nicaragua in Latin America while a number of NATO countries and the US allies also have acquired Russian military products.
Currently, Russia has ties in the military and technical domain with France, Greece, Bulgaria and Slovakia, the members of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program Finlandia, US allies South Korea, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
Russian-French military and technical cooperation is based on an intergovernmental agreement, signed in 1994, which lets the two countries coordinate efforts in aviation and space industry, small armaments, armored vehicles, artillery production and shipbuilding.
GREECE IS AMONG THE BUYERS AS WELL
Greece is one of the biggest buyers of Russian arms. At various times, Russia supplied Greece with air-defense systems, including the S-300 systems, air-cushion landing ships, anti-tank missile systems, infantry fighting vehicles, hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, artillery installations, military transport helicopters Mi-26, as well as small arms for special forces.