Turkey blocks exports of military-linked goods to Russia after US warning

Source:Financial Times Date:28Oct2024

Turkey’s electronic customs system no longer allows exporters to proceed with sending shipments of the so-called “battlefield goods” to Russia, one of the people said, having previously enabled them to be transported there. Similar goods originating from the EU were blocked earlier and remain so, two of the people said.

The quiet bans on military-linked exports to Russia, however, are the latest sign that Turkey is stepping back from the role as a lifeline from western sanctions that it embraced earlier in the war. Turkey’s banks sharply cut their business with Russian counterparties this year after the US issued an executive order threatening sanctions against lenders processing transactions for the Kremlin’s war machine.