Turkish and Russian goods make their way to Armenia, but with the added cost of air transportation or road transit through third countries like Georgia.

On the other hand, cheap Russian goods were flowing into the country, essentially killing domestic industries.

He imposed a trade embargo on Russian goods.

"We sell Russian goods when they are good quality and we can find them," he said.

Many diplomats predict Russia will go along because the roughly $1.5 billion in contracts for Russian goods sold to Iraq may be honored.

The port will allow Russian goods to reach inland provinces of Iran faster and cheaper.

According to European Union figures, the 12-nation body is the world's biggest importer of Russian goods.

Russia continues to subsidize the impoverished republics with both cheap resources and ruble credits to buy Russian industrial goods.

A big concern is that the ruble will rise sharply against the dollar, making Russian goods less competitive with those made abroad.

It was not clear from today's announcement whether the end of the prohibition on purchases applied to all high-tech Russian goods or just select ones.