On December 31, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law suspending Russia’s free trade agreement with Ukraine starting January 1, 2016. According to a news report, this move had been foreshadowed after negotiations between Russia, the EU, and Ukraine ended with no results earlier in December. At that time, Russian Trade and Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev noted that “[i]t’s a very probable scenario that there won’t be an agreement before 1 January and the non-preferential trade regime will be introduced,” adding that “extraordinary efforts” are required to reach an agreement. According to this news report, the Ukrainian parliament responded by passing a law allowing it to impose mirrored sanctions no any state that imposes sanctions on Ukraine. In response to Russia’s latest move cancelling the free trade deal, the Ukrainian Prime Minister states he was willing to lift the sanctions provided the deal was maintained and Russia lifted its food embargo.