Foreign Minister: US sanctions undermine global trade principles

ANKARA, Aug 14 (PRIME) -- U.S. sanctions, including sanctions against Turkey, are undermining all global trade principles, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

“(The sanctions) are illegal, they undermine all global trade principles, including those approved by the UN, which consider unilateral economic duress as illegitimate,” he said.

“I am sure that such a gross abuse of the role of the U.S. dollar as a global reserve currency will lead to the weakening of its role… with more and more countries, including those untouched by the sanctions, leaving the dollar just in case to rely on more reliable and able to negotiate partners in terms of use of their currencies.”

Trade and diplomatic relations between NATO allies the U.S. and Turkey have worsened sharply lately. Earlier in August, U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum to 50% and 20%, respectively, which sparked a currency crisis in Turkey.

End