Strange antisancations

The speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, together with the leaders of all four factions, introduced the bill “On the measures of influence (opposition) to the unfriendly actions of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states” - this is the response to the sanctions that the Donald Trump administration against Russia was submitted to the parliament.

The first article of the document states that its goal “is to protect the interests and security of the Russian Federation, the rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation”, “the prevention and suppression of unlawful and unfriendly actions of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states”. The concept of “other foreign states” in the bill is explained as follows: “States that have made decisions to join the actions of the United States and impose economic sanctions in relation to certain sectors of the Russian economy, Russian legal and (or) individuals or supported such decisions.” What kind of “actions” of the United States should the countries that risk falling under sanctions should join, and what the “support of decisions” of the United States can be, is not explained in the bill. The bill clarifies that sanctions are introduced regardless of existing restrictions against the United States and Europe.

The bill spells out several groups of measures that can be applied by decision of the President to the United States and other countries.

Kabachkov Fair / MSKAGENCY.RU

Firstly, this is a restriction on the import of agricultural products, raw materials and food, alcohol, tobacco and drugs (with the exception of those whose analogues are not produced in Russia), as well as the ban on state and municipal purchases of technological equipment and software.

Secondly, the bill states about the restriction of exports of products and equipment from rare-earth metals.

Thirdly, the bill spells out the termination of cooperation between Russia and Russian legal entities with the United States and organizations, “in the capital of which are directly or indirectly ... organizations are involved in organizations under the jurisdiction of the United States”, in the field of nuclear industry, aircraft industry, rocket and motor industry, as well as in consulting, audit and legal services. The same organizations will be forbidden to participate in the sale of federal property and privatization.

Fourth, it is especially stipulated that in Russia, exclusive rights to trademarks in relation to goods whose copyright holders are US citizens are exhausted.

The bill also refers to the ban on attracting highly qualified specialists and raising fees for aeronautical services of transport aircraft.

Dmitry Peskov, from whom Interfax took a comment a few minutes after the bill, said that the Kremlin at that time had not yet familiarized themselves with the essence of the deputies of the measures proposed by deputies, but they are sure that they would not be at the detriment of national interests.

Kremlin guard / AGN "Moscow" / Photo: Tereshchenko Mikhail

Peskov emphasized that "President Putin has repeatedly spoke about the priority of these interests when making such decisions."

Answering the question of whether the national interests of Russia and the consumer interests of citizens will be dispersed, Peskov said: "The interests of citizens and the interests of the country are a single substance." At the same time, the spokeswoman for the head of state noted: “Let us fully explain the interest of our parliamentarians in the topic of counteracting an unfriendly sanctions policy that is carried out in relation to our country by a number of states. And it is absolutely explainable and understandable that the deputies are working on issues of minimizing the consequences of these restrictions and on return measures. ”