Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree enforcing economic sanctions against Turkey in retaliation for the downing of a Russian military jet near the Syrian-Turkish border. The statement posted on the Kremlin’s website cites national security, listing a ban on chartered flights between Russia and Turkey, and ordered tour operators to refrain from offering trips to Turkey. It also announced sanctions on Turkish goods, and restrictions on particular Turkish companies and their activities in Russia, and ordered the government to produce a list detailing which goods and companies would fall under the ban. The decree also mentioned strengthening of port control in Russia’s Black Sea region.

Turkey sells mostly food, agricultural and textile products to Russia, and a Kremlin spokesman reported after the jet crash that nearly 200,000 Turkish citizens may be located in Russia. Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said in an interview on state TV that Russia intends to substitute at least some of banned Turkish agricultural imports with products from Uzbekistan, the main supplier of perishable food products in Central Asia. Russian Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko stated that Russian soccer teams would be banned from signing Turkish players. He added that Turkish companies involved in construction of venues for the 2018 World Cup would be allowed to continue. Iran reported that it would not increase gas supply to Turkey in the event of shortages due to tense relations with Russia.

Putin signed the decree right before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Russian officials stated they had been made aware of Turkish offer to have Putin meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the summit’s sidelines, but have not yet responded. Erdogan has not yet apologized for the downing of the jet, insisting that Turkey was within its full rights to protect its airspace. He cites repeated violations of Turkish airspace, but the jet was shot down when it was a mile inside the Syrian border. Russian officials have declined to release the jet’s flight path to the US.

Turkish analysts predict that the downing will complicate French-led calls for a coalition between NATO and Russia to resolve the political crisis in Syria. Putin continues to state that there was no legitimate reason to shoot down the jet, and that he perceived the action as a stab in the back from a potential ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS). Russian media have launched a campaign attempting to link Turkey to IS, which controls large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq where a reported 10,000 citizens of Russia and other former Soviet countries are reported to be fighting for Islamic militant groups including IS.

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News Briefs:

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• The Diplomat published a report on growing Pakistani nuclear activity, and possible avenues for incorporating the country into international nonproliferation agreements. It cites an August report by two US think tanks, predicting that if Pakistan continues accumulating nuclear equipment in a buildup competition with India, it could have the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal within a decade. The report alleges that Pakistan has raised its warhead count from around 70 in 2008 to over 500, able to reach Israel and Turkey. Spurred by a recent US-India agreement on transfer of nuclear materials, Pakistan benefits from Chinese supplies of material and Saudi financial and diplomatic support. It operates four production reactors, and has the capacity to manufacture 14 to 27 nuclear warheads each year. The report concludes that the only way to make Pakistan a willing party to nonproliferation agreements is through greater Western engagement with the country, which has enjoyed a fraught relationship with the US and NATO over alleged support for the Taliban during the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Afghanistan.

• The Azerbaijani and Belarusian presidents met in Minsk, as officials from both countries signed four documents aimed at increasing cooperation in various sectors. Azerbaijani First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov and Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko signed an agreement valid until 2025 on strengthening and diversification of trade relations. Also signed were a protocol on cooperation between both states’ social protection arms on cooperation regarding pensions, and an agreement between Azerbaijani and Belarusian state research foundations. Azerbaijan’s state website lists socioeconomic cooperation as a main priority for its relations with Belarus. Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Belarus stated last year that Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) would not stop Azerbaijan from considering accession plans. Yet Russian outlet Sputnik reported that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated on the sidelines of the 2015 UN General Assembly in October that Armenian accession presented a serious obstacle to joining the EAEU.

• Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed into law new regulations that purportedly favor employers through labor market liberalization. While supporters say that the legislation, which goes into effect in January, will ease businesses constrained by Soviet-era labor laws, workers’ unions and activists allege that the new regulations will make it easier to lay off employees. The legislation comes in a period of sustained economic difficulty for Kazakhstan, and less than a week after Minister of Energy Vladimir Sholknik stated that more than 40,000 oil workers may face layoffs and pay cuts due to the drop in global oil prices. Independent Kazakhstani observers noted that the labor code was rushed through the legislation process without much public consultation.

• Reuters reported that a head official of Russian gas giant Gazprom is slated to meet EU’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager next month for talks. It would be Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev’s second meeting with Vestager, and may decide the EU’s case against Gazprom. It is currently under EU allegations of developing a monopoly in Eastern Europe by blocking rivals and over-charging customers, for which it could be charged with a substantial fine. The talks would occur as Russian-EU relations are tense over Russia’s plan to bypass Ukraine and extend its Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany. Ten EU states have expressed concerns that the plan runs counter to EU interests, all of them Eastern European countries that benefit from Ukraine-routed gas supply to the EU.

• Azerbaijani news outlet Trend reported that Turkmenistan plans to issue state bonds beginning in 2016. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stated that the bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance would shore up the state budget, provide capital inflow needed to modernize production and ensure the country’s financial stability. Experts note that the government has continued to pour money into state projects with limited return potential, as the country’s economy is hit hard by falling gas prices. Turkmenistan’s government has a monopoly on its securities market.