The current EU/US–Russia conflict over Ukraine and the WTO: a preliminary note on (trade) restrictive measures

Abstract

In 2012, the Russian Federation (RF) joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) as its 156th member. Two years later, an international conflict over the developments in Ukraine in general and the changing status of Crimea erupted, which henceforth saw the RF, the United States (US), and the European Union (EU) drawn into a circle of the unilateral imposition of trade and other restrictive measures. This article looks at the trade aspects of the ensuing conflict and provides a detailed survey of the restrictive measures imposed by the EU, the US, and the RF from the perspective of the national legal orders of the jurisdictions concerned, as well as from the international perspective of the applicable WTO trade rules. It includes a critical assessment of the compatibility of economic sanctions with the parties' WTO commitments, as well as the possibility of addressing the current divergences under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.