Russia pivots south for trade

**EMBARGO: No electronic distribution, Web posting or street sales before Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. ET on March 13, 2024. No exceptions for any reasons. EMBARGO set by source.** A cargo ship is unloaded at the port on the Caspian Sea in Baku, Azerbaijan, June 13, 2023. Russia has been forging new trade routes that will allow it to skirt Western restrictions, and a planned railway through Iran could be key for those ambitions. (Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)

FOR centuries, trade with Europe was the main pillar of Russia’s economy.

The war in Ukraine ended that, with Western sanctions and other restrictions increasingly cutting Russia off from European markets.