YALTA, August 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia does not think its restrictions on food and agricultural imports run counter to the country’s obligations with the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
“In the WTO accession agreement we wrote that we can resort to restrictions in order to ensure the country’s national security interests,” Putin said at the meeting with Russian lawmakers in the Crimean city of Yalta.
Putin also noted that Moscow introduced import restrictions as a countermeasure to the Western sanctions that had been imposed against Russia.
Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow has a wide range of potential responses to western sanctions within the framework of the World Trade Organization that can be used by any member.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning imports of agricultural and food products from countries that imposed sanctions on Russia for a year. Asking the Russian Cabinet to think of countermeasures to the most recent economic penalties against Russia, Putin urged its members make sure that the measures support domestic manufacturers and have no “detriment to consumers."
