Germany stops arms export to Russia

The German government has stopped arms export to Russia as a consequence of the current crisis in Ukraine, German media reported on Thursday. Currently, Germany will not give German enterprises permissions for arms export to Russia in principle due to the current political situation, said German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, quoting German Economics Ministry's answer to an inquiry of the parliamentary group of opposition Green Party. The government has also started a review on how to deal with export permissions that are already granted. It may lead to a halt in export deals in "critical cases," according to the ministry. A total of 69 applications for export permits for military goods valuing 5.18 million euros (7.16 million U.S. dollars) were stuck in the approval process as of April 8, the ministry told the Greens. The deals reportedly do not involve any weapons of war such as tanks, machine guns, warplanes or missiles.