MOSCOW: Russia’s lower house of parliament approved on second reading a bill that would give the Russian government authority to ban trade in certain items with countries deemed to be unfriendly to Moscow.
Under the legislation, the decision about what products would be affected by the restrictions would be made by the Russian president, and then subject to approval from parliament.
The legislation, which is Russia’s response to a new round of US sanctions, must pass a third reading, before passing to the upper house of parliament.