In this thesis we examine if sanctions had a causal effect on total trade on Russia after its annexation of Crimea 2014. To answer this a synthetic control method (SCM) and a difference in difference (DiD) method was implemented. The results show that a causal effect of sanctions was not found by neither method. However, the year 2016 and 2017 result gave a statistically significant causal effect with the SCM where the synthetic unit is 1.23 times greater than Russia. A general practical or statistically significant causal effect was not found.