Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian Prime Minister, has threatened the Ukraine with “serious sanctions” in the agrarian trade if their neighbouring country were to leave the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) or sign an agreement of union with the EU. A limit on the bilateral trading regime would be unavoidable, as Moscow is obliged to represent the interests of its agricultural producers, said Medvedev on the 5th of April during a congress of national delegates in Wolgograd.
The adjustments would take place within the framework of the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), he assured them. Medvedev had previously stated that Moscow would respect the decision of the Ukraine to integrate into the EU, but that it would have to protect itself against possible consequences that could arise due to the easier access EU products would have to the Ukrainian market.