Application of the Most Favored Nation Principle as an Instrument of Financial Sanctions against Russia

The paper analyzes the regulatory legal acts of the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Australia, which became the basis for the abolition of the most favored nation status in relation to Russia in 2022. The hypothesis is examined that unilateral restrictive measures (financial sanctions) imposed by WTO member states to introduce additional customs tariffs in relation to other WTO members are illegal and violate the principle of non-discrimination in international trade. The paper examines the tendency to transform the goals and objectives of using the most favored nation principle and national treatment: from the original (removing barriers to world trade, opening new markets) to the current ones in the form of sanctions policy instruments. Manipulation of these principles depending on the economic interests of individual states is contrary to WTO norms. The approach of justifying financial sanctions by the aim of protecting essential national security interests through Article XXI (b) (iii) of GATT 1947 is criticized.