Senator Pushkov: accusations of US Trade Representative Tai in violation of WTO rules are not serious
Alexey Pushkov. Photo: “Komsomolskaya Pravda” / Global Look Press
Federation Council member Alexei Pushkov responded to the accusations of the US Trade Representative Catherine Tai against Russia of violating the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He wrote about this in his Telegram channel.
“Against the background of the” big felling “on security guarantees and 92 types of US sanctions, the US trade representative's reasoning looks frivolous,” the senator said. According to him, accusations about the introduction by Russia of allegedly “unsubstantiated scientifically” import restrictions on agricultural products sound especially “comical”. He stressed that such measures by Russia against the background of Western sanctions are “very well justified.”
Pushkov pointed out that the unilateral US economic sanctions not approved by the UN are a gross violation of all norms of international law, therefore “it is not for the American trade representative to make judgments on this score.” In conclusion, the Federation Council member said that Russia will not abandon the current economic policy, which is “the only way to maintain its sovereignty – both economic and political.”
On December 22, US Trade Representative Catherine Tai said that Washington sees import substitution and preferences for domestic goods and services as Russia's departure from WTO rules. Therefore, the United States decided to work on countermeasures through the WTO in order to prevent Russia from developing this direction.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by saying that import substitution is a response to the unilateral sanctions of the West, and the European Union adopted these sanctions under pressure from the United States, which became clear several years ago. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin did not agree with Catherine Tai's accusations.
In mid-December, the leaders of 27 countries of the European Union unanimously decided to extend economic sanctions against Russia. The head of the EU Council Charles Michel announced that the Kremlin will face serious consequences if Moscow “takes further military action against Ukraine” and called for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
