MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russia said at the General Council meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that Western sanctions against Russian entities violate the key rules of the organization and a number of WTO members support Moscow’s position, according to the statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development issued on Thursday.
“We get an impression that the United States is deliberately forcing us to use the judicial mechanisms of the WTO, which in this particular case could have highly negative consequences for the whole diversified trade system,” the statement reads.
Namely, the sanctions violate such provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services as obligation on providing the most favored nation treatment, obligation on access to market for services and rules regulating payments and transfers. Western sanctions also contradict the norms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Last week, the US Treasury introduced the so-called Sectoral Sanctions Identification List that affects Russian companies and institutions in defense, energy and banking sectors. The European Commission is also expected to introduce a new package of sanctions targeting Russia’s financial and defense sectors later today.
Earlier this year, the United States and the European Union imposed targeted sanctions against a number of Russian officials and companies as a response to Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called the language of sanctions counterproductive and said these measures would have a boomerang effect on European economy.
