Russia warned the West on Wednesday that it was working on a broad response to sanctions that would be swift and felt in the West’s most sensitive areas, Reuters reports.
Russia is preparing to challenge trade restrictions in the WTO that were adopted against it; “Moscow is ready to challenge those trade restrictions that were adopted in violation of the rules and norms of the Organization. We have sufficient experience in successfully defending our interests in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and intend to continue the practice of using this arbitration to challenge unlawful trade restrictions imposed by other member countries and violate multilateral agreements and their own obligations in this organization,” Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the foreign ministry’s department for economic cooperation, said.
Russia’s economy is facing the gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union after the West imposed crippling sanctions on almost entire Russian financial and corporate system following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia’s reaction will be swift, thoughtful and sensitive for those it addresses,” Birichevsky was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
Russia, which supplies around 30% of the 500 million tonnes of oil a year that Europe consumes, warned earlier this week that oil prices could shoot up to over $300 per barrel if the United States and European Union banned imports of crude from Russia.
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