The U.S. government has slapped sanctions on Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport for violating a U.S. law restricting weapons trade with Iran, North Korea and Syria, barring future U.S. military purchases with the company.

The Pentagon last purchased Rosoboronexport helicopters to supply Afghan security forces in 2013, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Thursday. The State Department announced the sanctions on Wednesday.

The U.S. military's purchase of equipment from the Russian company, given its sales of weapons to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, had prompted bipartisan criticism in the U.S. Congress.