currently worth nearly $2tn (£1.5tn) a year, is about to get busier as the West embarks on what experts believe will be a decade of increased weaponry procurement to counter the enhanced threat posed by an emboldened Russia and a watching China.
However, the sanctions have stopped short of banning gas and oil imports from Russia, which provide huge income revenues for the Kremlin. Russia’s finance ministry said it expects to earn 798 billion roubles (£7bn) in revenue from energy sale in April due to high oil prices.