Russia extends food embargo to 5 countries

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree that extends the list of countries that fall under Russian counter sanctions, he said at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, TASS reported.

"Now in addition to the European Union countries, Australia, Canada, Norway and the United States, that saw a ban on export of some agricultural products last August, we've added a number of countries - Albania, Montenegro, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and Ukraine under special conditions," the Russian prime minister said, recalling that these states have joined the earlier decision on the extension of the EU sanctions against Russia.

The food embargo will affect Ukraine only if it signs the economic part of its association with the EU, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

Last week Russia started the mass destruction of illegal food imports. Russia’s food watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor says the volume of imported fruits and vegetables illegally crossing Russian borders has plummeted since the operation began.