The toughest sanctions against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago have limited Moscow’s ability to acquire materials for its defense industry, British intelligence agencies said Monday.
In a report published this Monday by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense, British experts say it is “highly likely” that reduced room for maneuver has led to delays and higher costs for deliveries.
“Russia’s isolation limits the number of countries with which it can trade directly,” British experts said in a report published Monday by the Ministry of Defense.
In another report, but this time from the Institute for the Study of Economies in Transition of the Bank of Finland, some countries already pay more than 60% of premiums for the sale of certain goods to Russia.
According to British intelligence, Russia has managed to increase production of some munitions, but is struggling to obtain more advanced and complex systems, which are fundamentally dependent on foreign components and technology.
The British say it is “likely” that the supply chain will continue to face difficulties in the short term, exacerbated by Russia’s restrictions on the export of its own equipment, including difficulties in setting up payment mechanisms to circumvent international sanctions.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia accounts for only 11% of global arms trade, down ten percentage points from 2014 to 2018.