Russian President Vladimir Putin [official profile] signed [text, PDF, in Russian] a law on Monday in response to the sanctions [text, PDF] the US imposed on Russia in April.
The counter-sanctions give Putin the right to ban trade from countries found to be hostile to Russia and to cut ties with such countries.
According to Reuters [report], the counter-sanctions are not as strong those originally drafted by Russian legislators. Originally, the sanctions were intended to apply to many US goods, such as food and medicine. However, businesses feared such sweeping sanctions would harm Russia’s economy and deter foreign trade.
Putin was reelected [JURIST report] in March, despite allegations of electoral fraud. Putin’s relationship with US President Donald Trump has also been the subject of speculation [JURIST op-ed].