The EU intends to recover from Russia annually more than a billion euros due to the restriction of imports of pork. The WTO has already sent Brussels's claim to the arbitration court, the newspaper Politico.

The court must decide whether the claim is fair, and if so, determine what measures should be taken against the Russian Federation.

Brussels demands from Moscow an initial compensation of 1.39 billion euros - this is the total value of exports of pork from the EU to Russia in 2013, up to all import bans. It is planned that the amount of penalties will be increased by 15%.

Brussels is now intensifying pressure on Moscow in the "battle of mirror sanctions," challenging the legitimacy of "politically motivated food sanctions," writes Politico. According to the trade diplomat from the EU, the topic of the embargo will be actively discussed in the coming year.

Russia imposed a ban on the importation of pork from the EU countries in 2014 due to the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) recorded a year earlier in Poland and Lithuania,. Then the Russian authorities included pork in the list of products banned for import as part of the food embargo in response to sanctions.

The European Union responded to this by filing a lawsuit with the WTO, which in 2016 ruled that the Russian embargo was "unlawful" and was contrary to the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the Organization. Appeal rejected by Moscow rejected.

First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Jabarov called the EU's intention to achieve annual billion-dollar penalties from Russia with lawlessness.

"We need arguments, while what the EU declares is lawlessness. In the financial markets there are restrictions, our companies are banned. In this connection?.

Why such inequality? "- Senator indignant in an interview with RT.

"And where was the WTO when they imposed sanctions against Russia?

If it goes this way, then the question should be asked: does it make sense to be part of the WTO and what does it give us in this organization? In addition to problems and complete insecurity from the sanctions policy, gives. If this is submitted to the arbitration court, we must defend our interests in full, up to the withdrawal from the WTO, "Jabarov continued, urging" to follow the way of the Americans ", whose national interests are more important than any international courts.