Putin: Russian arms exports hit $14.5 billion in 2015, more than planned - agencies

Reuters
Visitors walk near exhibits, which are on display at the Army-2015 international military-technical forum in Kubinka, outside Moscow, Russia, in this June 17, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/Files

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's arms exports totaled $14.5 billion last year, more than originally planned, Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying on Tuesday. The total portfolio of foreign orders for Russian arms has exceeded $56 billion, Putin told a meeting of the presidential commission on military-technical cooperation, which is a term used in Russia for arms exports. He also said that the Defence Ministry had started preparations for demining of Syria's city of Palmyra liberated from Islamic State militants. (Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)