OREANDA-NEWS. The United States, Russia, France, Germany and China are world leaders in arms exports, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). However, over the past five years, arms exports from Russia have declined by 18%, while the United States and France, on the contrary, have strengthened their positions, analysts concluded.

So, for 2015-2019, the United States further increased the gap between other arms suppliers: arms exports from the country grew by 23% compared to the previous period and amounted to 36% of the global supply. Over the past five years, according to SIPRI, the United States has supplied weapons to 96 countries.

“In 2015–2019, half of US exports accounted for the Middle East, 50% accounted for Saudi Arabia. In addition, demand for US military aircraft has increased in Europe, Australia, Japan and Taiwan”, said Peter Weseman, senior researcher at SIPRI's weapons and military spending program. Russia's exports over the same period decreased markedly, falling by 18%. The reason was the decline in supplies to India.