KUBINKA/Moscow Region/, June 26. /TASS/. Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has nearly stopped cooperation with the United States and West European countries, CEO Alexander Mikheyev told TASS at the fifth international forum Army-2019.

"We have almost suspended cooperation with the countries of West Europe and the US," Mikheyev said.

According to him, a number of other countries have been affected due to this suspended cooperation. "For example, Afghanistan, for which the Pentagon had bought Mi-17 helicopters that have been used by the Afghan armed forces very successfully. Now the US has decided to supply its Black Hawk helicopters to Afghanistan, which are inferior to Russia’s Mi-17 helicopters in terms of transport productivity and usage," he said.

The Rosoboronexport CEO expects that the sanctions imposed by the US and West Europe will be in force for a long time. "Unfortunately, now we are not seeing any positive changes. Russia is calling on the US and other countries to adopt an unbiased approach and review their decisions. Everything sometimes comes to an end, and we hope that this will happen. And now we have learnt how to work in new conditions, although they are challenging for us," Mikheyev said.

In April 2018, the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on 38 Russian individuals and legal entities, including Rosoboronexport, the Russian Financial Corporation and Rusal.

The Army-2019 forum runs at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center outside Moscow on June 25-30. Exhibition events will also take place in other Russian regions. According to preliminary estimates, the forum in Russia will be attended by over 1,500 enterprises that will demonstrate more than 27,000 products and technologies.