Ukraine has launched a dispute before the World Trade Organization, complaining that Russian restrictions on road and rail transit of Ukrainian goods violate international trade agreements, sources close to the WTO said Thursday. Ukraine alleged that Moscow had imposed a range of restrictions on the transit of goods from the country, including banning the transit of any goods with tariff rates above zero, and all goods under the embargo imposed by Russia in August 2014. Russia also insists that all transit of goods be carried out through Belarus, but blocks Ukrainian drivers from crossing the border there, according to Ukraine's complaint. All vehicles transiting goods from Ukraine must be accompanied by convoys and must use identification seals and go through checkpoints to ensure they are compliant with the restrictions, the complaint said. Ukraine, which has been battered by a 29-month war with pro-Russian separatists that has killed nearly 2,900 people, maintains that the Russian measures break a range of WTO rules. Kiev's request for consultations marks the first step in the WTO dispute system, and is aimed at giving the parties a chance to talk things through and resolve their differences without moving forward with litigation. If the consultations fail to resolve the dispute within 60 days, the WTO, which polices global trade accords in an effort to ensure a level playing field for its 164 member economies, can create a panel of experts to review the case. Wednesday's complaint was the fifth filed by Ukraine since it became a WTO member in 2008, and the seventh targeting Russia since it joined the global trade body in 2012.
