August 8, 2014

In recent developments over the Ukraine–Russia crisis, Russia will ban all food imports from the US as well as fruit and vegetables from Europe, in response to Western sanctions over the country's support for rebels in the former Soviet state.

The measures will affect local consumers who rely on cheap imports, and on farmers in the West for whom Russia is a huge market. Moscow is currently the biggest buyer of European fruit and vegetables, and the second largest importer of US poultry in 2013, accounting for 8% of US chicken meat exports, according to the USDA.

RIA quoted that the spokesman for Russia's food safety watchdog, VPSS, as saying that all produce from the US would be included in a ban drawn up on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, the spokesman told Reuters that the bans would be "quite substantial" and would specifically include US poultry, although he declined to give a full list of banned goods.

The war of economic sanctions has escalated since a Malaysian airliner was shot down over Ukrainian territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

Putin had ordered his government to come up with a list of agricultural products from countries which had imposed sanctions on Russia, which would be banned in response. However, he cautioned against measures that would hurt local consumers.