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Russia’s designation of “unfriendly countries” has expanded beyond foreign economic policy into domestic courts, family law, property rights and financial obligations, with a string of decrees and rulings extending its reach to individuals.
The list of states Moscow considers unfriendly was formalised as a form of retaliation in a government order in March 2022, weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It covers the US, the UK, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand and EU member states, all of which have pushed back against Russia’s war of aggression.
This autumn, the Russian government nearly doubled import duties on spirits from unfriendly countries, raising the rate from 20% to 35%, primarily affecting European and North American producers.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the placement of foreign companies’ Russian assets under temporary administration was directly linked to those companies’ home countries being on the list.
The measure has affected the Russian operations of Nestlé, Auchan, FM Logistic, Leroy Merlin, Metro Cash & Carry, Tarkett, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and others.
Russia’s Supreme Court cited the unfriendly countries designation in a child custody dispute, ruling that returning a child to France could run counter to her interests in part because France appears on the list.
In March 2025, Russian citizen Alexei Ermakov took his daughter on a two-week holiday to Turkey and Slovakia with the consent of her mother, Ukrainian citizen Anna Tishkova, then brought the child to Russia in April.
He subsequently arranged Russian citizenship for the girl. Despite international agreements on returning children to their country of habitual residence, the court declined to order her return to France.
Property and vehicles under threat
A bill supported in the State Duma would allow vehicles stolen or illegally exported from unfriendly countries to be registered in Russia.
Supporters say it addresses legal gaps caused by the breakdown in cooperation with Western states; opponents say it would weaken property protections for owners in those countries.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court ordered the Interior Ministry to register a vehicle flagged in an international database at Canada’s request, ruling that listing in an international stolen vehicles register is not in itself sufficient grounds to refuse registration in Russia.
Putin signed a decree this autumn under which individuals who cannot prove citizenship of Russia or a friendly state or produce a residency permit are automatically treated as persons from unfriendly countries.
A further decree allows Russian debtors to withhold payment from creditors in unfriendly countries, departing from the standard principle of equal treatment of parties to contracts.
Standard principles of private international law require courts to resolve contracts, custody matters and property disputes on their legal merits, regardless of the nationality or political status of the parties.
Russia’s application of a foreign-policy designation to those areas departs from norms in conventions it has ratified, among them the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which obligates signatory states to return children removed across borders without consent.