State Department: New sanctions are deterring Russian defense sales

Russian defense industry sales are suffering from sanctions recently mandated by federal law, the State Department told Congress Monday.

“Today, we have informed Congress that this legislation and its implementation are deterring Russian defense sales,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a Monday evening statement. “Since the enactment of the [Russia sanction] legislation, we estimate that foreign governments have abandoned planned or announced purchases of several billion dollars in Russian defense acquisitions.”