FRANCE, Germany and Italy side-stepped an arms embargo to sell weapons to Vladimir Putin that are being used to slaughter Ukrainians.

       On a day of shame for the EU, it emerged ten member states sold hundreds of millions of pounds of military kit to Russia between 2015 and 2020.

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       France, Germany and Italy side-stepped an arms embargo to sell weapons to Vladimir Putin 2

       Ten EU countries sold hundreds of millions of pounds of military kit to Russia between 2015 and 2020

       Paris sent bombs, rockets and explosives, as well as thermal-imaging cameras for 1,000 tanks and infra-red detectors for jets.

       Berlin sold rifles and Rome provided armoured cars.

       EU states, including then-member Britain, hit Russia with a weapons embargo in 2014 over the annexation of Crimea.

       But a loophole allowed countries and firms to fulfil contracts they had previously signed with Russia.

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       And a probe by Investigate Europe shows EU27 states issued more than 1,000 licences after the ban.

       France went on to flog ￡130million of military kit to the Kremlin, Germany sold ￡100million and Italy made ￡19million.

       Britain also sold weapons to Russia after the embargo was imposed, but only ￡1.7million worth.

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