Ukraine's weapons imports are surging, while Russia's share of global arms exports is declining – Radio Free Europe

RFE/RL writes about this. 

Western sanctions and Russia's focus on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine have contributed to a sharp drop in Russia's share of global arms exports, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent institute focused on researching conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament. Russia's share fell from 22% to 16% in the last five years, while the US remained the leading global arms exporter, with its share increasing from 33% to 40%, the article says. 

"It is likely that the invasion of Ukraine will further limit Russia's arms exports. This is because Russia will prioritize supplying its armed forces, and demand from other states will remain low due to trade sanctions on Russia and increasing pressure from the U.S.A. and its allies not to buy Russian arms," said Pieter Wezeman, a senior SIPRI researcher.

According to SIPRI, The US and Russia have been the top arms exporters for the last 30 years, with France in third place. However, Russia's lead over France has decreased, with France's share increasing to 11% due to Russia's declining arms exports, especially in India. 

France is expected to continue gaining a larger share of the market as it has more outstanding orders for arms exports than Russia by the end of 2022, Wezerman said. 

The publication notes that US arms exports grew 14% from 2013-2017 to 2018-2022, while Russia's exports declined 31%. France's exports rose 44%, mainly to Asian, Oceanic, and Middle Eastern countries. In the past five years, India received 30% of France's arms exports, surpassing the US as New Delhi's second-largest supplier of weaponry. Russia remained India's top arms exporter and increased sales to China by 39% and Egypt by 44%. 

“Ukraine became the third-largest arms importer globally in 2022 as Kyiv continues to battle against the full-scale invasion by Russian forces, a major change from the nation’s actions over previous decades,” the article reads.

The report states that Ukraine had imported few major arms from 1991 to 2021. However, following the Russian invasion in February 2022, military aid from the US and European states made Ukraine the third-largest importer of major arms in 2022, after Qatar and India. In the same five-year period, European NATO nations increased their arms imports by 65 percent due to a perceived heightened threat from Russia. Ukraine's global arms imports accounted for 2 percent.

“Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European states want to import more arms, faster,” Wezeman added, while it is noted that this surge occurred as the worldwide level of international arms transfers dropped by 5.1% over the past five years.