Apple Inc., the world's largest corporation, has completely stopped selling its products in the annexed Crimea. Brand's official representatives working on the peninsula have had notice of the ban on the realization of goods on the territory of Crimea. In addition, the ban applies to the rendering of services related to the use of Apple products. In the accompanying letter the corporation’s management explains such a decision with new sanctions imposed by the U.S. government against Russia at the end of December last year. According to new restrictions, the U.S. companies must halt any business relationships with counterparts working in Crimea before the 1st of February. The corresponding directive was sent by the U.S. Treasury. MasterCard and Visa payment systems were the first to respond to this directive. They went out of cards’ service on the whole annexed territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin replied that "no one was able to isolate, contain or intimidate the Russian Federation before and will not be able to do it in the future." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov adheres to similar position on sanctions. The Minister noted that "anti-Russian restrictions violate not only the principles of the World Trade Organization but also international rights."
