You're reading: Lawmaker: Ukraine via WTO should demand international sanctions against Russia

Ukraine should demand the imposition of international sanctions against Russia through the World Trade Organization (WTO), MP from the Batkivschyna faction Andriy Pavlovsky has said. 

“Ukraine should not forget that we and Russia are members of the World Trade Organization. The WTO has certain trade rules, in particular, indicating cases in which countries can introduce sanctions and stop the flow of goods. A country that violates the rules faces tough international sanctions,” the lawmaker said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

“Ukraine should have appealed to WTO arbitrators a long time ago and demanded the introduction of relevant economic sanctions against Russia for its improper actions,” the lawmaker said.

He said that he does not understand why the Ukrainian authorities did not use the said tools to influence Russia via the WTO.

“I hope that in the near term we’ll see at least the smallest reaction of the government to these hostile actions by Russia,” he said.

Pavlovsky said that first the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine should have made a rigorous statement and send a diplomatic note with the corresponding requirements to the Russian ambassador. The government and the Justice Ministry of Ukraine should also act in the same way.

“Why have we not yet made this response? … The fact that the Foreign Ministry and the government have not yet made a statement points to their incompetence,” he said.

Pavlovsky said he believes that the ban of Ukrainian imports is purely politically motivated.

“I think that the quality of Ukrainian goods has not changed and remains the same. If earlier they suited Russia for 20 years, the country can’t have changed its position in one day. Of course, this is linked solely to politics… Frankly speaking, this is a hostile action towards Ukraine,” he said.

Pavlovsky said that “everything is happening before the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union.”

“This is a type of political pressure on Ukraine, as the Russian authorities want to show Ukraine that hardships will continue if you disobey and do not enter the Customs Union. While earlier Russia tried to lure us with the carrots of the Customs Union, telling about some benefits and privileges, now it is using the customs stick and is driving us into the Eurasian space using this stick,” the lawmaker said.

“We can say that a trade war was declared against Ukraine on Aug. 14,” Pavlovsky said.