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Russia imposed a ban on the import of agricultural products, raw materials and foodstuffs from its western neighbour, Ukraine, in December 2015.
This ban came into effect on 1 January 2016. The move followed a deterioration of relations between the two countries over Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.
Following this seizure, the European Union and Ukraine signed an Association Agreement aimed at strengthening the political and economic ties between the two. The move was also a symbolic reminder of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union.
At the time, Russia warned of “grave consequences”, one of which has come to pass with the recent import ban on its neighbour. Since then the Ukraine has retaliated by imposing a ban on the import of all goods produced in Russia, saying its neighbour's actions have caused “substantial damage to the Ukrainian economy and Ukrainian entrepreneurs”.
“We will act the same way every time. Each Russian action will get an operational response,” stated prime minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk at a government meeting in December 2015.
Yatsenyuk added that the Russian ban violates multilateral and bilateral agreements between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
Western sanctions
In August 2014, Vladimir Putin imposed a ban on the import of foodstuffs from Europe, Australia, Canada, Norway and the US in response to their sanctions on Russia over its military interference in Crimea.
In June 2015, Russia extended this ban until the end of August 2016. However, only this week Putin was quoted in the German daily newspaper Bild as saying that western sanctions are “severely harming” Russia. He also called western sanctions "a theatre of the absurd".
In an exclusive interview last week with the Irish Farmers Journal, EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan expressed “hope” of restoring trade with Russia, saying that since the ban was imposed, some €5.2bn of EU farm produce has been locked out of the country.
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