Economic sanctions are a powerful means of sending a political message. In August 2014, the EU and US introduced sanctions against Russian individuals and businesses for Russia’s destructive role in Ukraine’s conflict. In response, the Kremlin announced an immediate embargo on food imports from Europe, US, Norway, Canada, and Australia. Since then, the sanctions have been extended few times. Fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy produce and various other foods are still barred from the Russian market.
No one has won the food war so far. Russia has become a booming market for Western consumer goods in the past decade. On the one hand, Western food exporters are already facing heavy losses and layoffs. On the other hand, the sanctions are grim for Russia’s economy. It was buoyed by oil huge income for years. Nowadays, Russia’s economy has been facing recession for the second year in a row amid tumbling oil prices, a slump in the ruble’s value, weaker direct investment, and soaring capital flight.
The Kremlin reacted with fury when a Turkish F-16 fighter shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber on the Syria-Turkey border in November 2015. Moscow slapped immediately a number of sanctions, including a food embargo. The letter of apology from President Erdogan followed eight months later. Meanwhile, Turkey incurred massive losses of $209 million in the first quarter 2016.
