Russia warned Ukraine today that it faces “grave” economic consequences, including potential new restrictions on trade, after President Petro Poroshenko signed a free-trade agreement with the European Union.
Such retaliation would certainly harm Ukraine, which sends about one-fourth of its exports to Russia. But the construction of new trade barriers only underscores the bunker mentality that underlies President Vladimir Putin’s management of Russia’s economy—and the increasing risk it poses to the country’s economic health.
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