Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree banning food and agricultural imports from countries that have imposed sanctions against the country, as part of its continued involvement in the Ukraine. The retaliatory move comes more than a week after the United States and European Union increased economic sanctions on Moscow for supporting pro-Russian separatists fighting Ukraine government forces in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, along the border with Russia, reports CNN.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the country has imposed a ban on supplies of beef, pork, fruit, vegetables, poultry, fish, cheese and milk from the European Union, United States, Australia, Canada and Norway. A list of specific products and food bans is still being worked out by the Russian government, according to the decree, which describes the order as a special economic measure "aimed at ensuring the security of the Russian Federation."
The measures, Putin said, are aimed at preventing a jump in food prices in Russia.
