ST. PETERSBURG, June 20 (RAPSI) - Russia is going to dispute economic sanctions imposed by the US in the World Trade Organization, although Russian officials understand that in this case, it will not be easy, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a plenary meeting of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

“When the US imposed sanctions against Russia that could have adverse consequences for foreign trade, we decided to contest these sanctions in the World Trade Organization. However, we understand it will not be easy. The US has doctrinal and practical authority in the WTO and is a leading country in initiating commercial disputes within the WTO. But I believe that if there is a procedure, we should use it,” Medvedev said.

Russia filed a communique with the WTO on the US breaching its commercial obligations. Medvedev stressed that this was the civilized way to settle the argument between the countries.

The communique is basically a notice. Earlier, Russian officials did not rule out filing a lawsuit against the US with respect to the imposed sanctions that concern the Russian economy.

Medvedev says the sanctions are in violation of certain WTO rules, including the most favored nation treatment, because the sanctions result in the discrimination of service providers from another country. Also, the sanctions violate a direct ban of Article 2 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and obligations of the WTO on trading specific financial services when it comes to restrictions imposed on a number of Russian banks.