Complying With Economic Sanctions, Apple And Nokia Stop Shipping Products To Russia

Nokia complies with the implementation of economic sanctions by not shipping its products to Russia. (photo credit: pixabay)

JAKARTA - Apple Inc announced that it has stopped all sales of its products in Russia, starting Tuesday, March 1. This decision was made in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week.

"We are deeply concerned by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and support all those who have suffered as a result of this violence," Apple said in a statement. "We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing assistance to the ongoing refugee crisis, and doing all we can to support our teams in the region."

The company outlined a number of actions in response to the invasion, including stopping all exports to its sales channels in the country. According to sources at Apple, products and systems such as Apple Pay and other services have been restricted.

Even Russian state media, RT News and Sputnik News, are no longer available for download from Apple Stores outside Russia.

As of last Tuesday, users in Russia were still able to access Apple's online store but attempts to purchase iPhones indicated they were not available for shipping.

Previously, the Finnish telecommunications company, Nokia also said it would stop shipping their products to Russia to comply with sanctions imposed on the country after the invasion of Ukraine. This assurance also emerged from Nokia on Tuesday, March.

"This is a complex situation that is rapidly evolving and we are continuing to assess it," a company source that supplies products to MTS, Vimpelcom, Megafon and Tele2 in Russia, told Reuters.