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LIVE: The US Won't Follow WTO Rules in Its Dealings with Russia

  • President Joe Biden announces new sanctions against Russia, March 11, 2022.

    President Joe Biden announces new sanctions against Russia, March 11, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @AndyVermaut

Published 11 March 2022
Opinion

By revoking Russia's "Most Favored Nation" status, the United States is creating an insurmountable rift within the international trade order it created after World War II.

After 16 days of the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russian troops are very close to Kiev. Below are the latest developments in this conflict as they happen.

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The U.S. will revoke the "Most Favored Nation" status for Russia. On Friday, President Joe Biden announced new trade sanctions which include a ban on importing Russian vodka, caviar, fish, shellfish and diamonds.

The United States also decided to put an end to the principle of "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) in its commercial dealings with Russia, thus breaking with multilateral trade regulations and opening the door to the imposition of higher tariffs on Russian products.

According to Biden, the elimination MFN principle would also be adopted by the Group of Seven (G7), which includes Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Now, the withdrawal of the MNF treatment must be approved by the U.S. Congress, which is expected to happen easily since Democrats and Republicans are united on issues related to Russia.

Revoling this principle of the World Trade Organization (WTO) implies that the United States and its allies could deny Russian firms access to their services markets and not protect their intellectual property rights.

The Turkish President criticizes the United Nations and calls for its reform. During the Diplomatic Forum held in Antalya city, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed out that the United Nations is "bankrupt" because they failed to prevent the conflict in Ukraine.

"Since the decisions of the United Nations General Assembly are not binding, no action has been taken to end the fighting", Erdogan pointed out, calling for a reform that annuls the "right to veto" within the UN Security Council (UNSC).

"The world is bigger than five," he said, criticizing the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France, all of which have the power to veto decisions that might otherwise be made.

Russia will react to Ukraine's use of foreign fighters. On Friday, President Vladimir Putin harshly criticized the presence of mercenaries from all over the world in Ukraine and pointed out that his country would react to their actions.

"The Western sponsors of Ukraine and the Ukrainian regime do not hide it. They do it openly, in defiance of all norms of international law," he said.

NATO does not want an open war with Russia. During the Diplomatic Forum taking place in the Turkish city of Antalya, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said that his organization has "the responsibility to prevent this conflict from escalating beyond Ukraine's borders and becoming in an open war between Russia and NATO.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meets with Putin in Moscow. This is their firts bilateral meeting since Russia began its special military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24. President Putin is expected to talk with his counterpart about the current military situation and the development of negotiations with the Volodymyr Zelensky regime.

Russia dismantles military airfields in western Ukraine. Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov announced attacks on military targets in the cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, emphasizing that his country's forces are targeting exclusively military infrastructure. So far, however, the United Nations has recorded the deaths of at least 516 civilians.

German public television reports again from Moscow. The two national German public television channels, ARD and ZDF, are reporting again from Russia.

Last week, these chains decided to interrupt their activities from Moscow as a result of a new law that contemplates penalties of up to 15 years for the dissemination of false information. However, after an "in-depth analysis" of the scope of this law, the German public media decided to resume operations in their studios in Moscow.

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