Russia says a ban on Western food products will also apply to Ukraine from the start of next year when a free trade agreement comes into force
Russia says a ban on Western food products will also apply to Ukraine from the start of next year when a free trade agreement comes into force between Kyiv and the European Union.
The tension over Ukraine and its closer ties with the EU comes as Brussels agreed to roll over for a further six months its economic sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia is also now suspending its free trade deal with Ukraine.
Svitlana Zalishchuk, a ruling party MP in Ukraine, told euronews:
“I don’t think we have to (in any way) consider the situation in Ukraine as the sphere of legitimate interest of Moscow, Russia or any other player, big country, stakeholder in the region.”
The news of a Russian ban on Ukrainian food products came despite new efforts to include Russia in dialogue over the EU-Ukraine trade agreement in Brussels.
Euronews correspondent in Kyiv, Sergio Cantone, reported: “To engage Russia in a trilateral format of negotiation is an idea of the EU in order to appease Moscow.
“But in the eyes of Russia the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine remains a major threat to its trade and political national interests.”