Russia Adds Four Countries To Food Import Ban, Threatens Ukraine

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that four countries have been added to its import ban list for foreign food.

He also threatened on August 13 that Ukrainian products would be added to the Russian blacklist if Kyiv implemented the economic parts of its Association Agreement with the European Union.

Medvedev named the four additional countries as Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, and Lichtenstein.

He said Ukraine would be added at the start of 2016 unless Kyiv reached a settlement with Moscow that circumvents the economic regulations in Ukraine's trade accord with the EU.

The ban has already made it illegal for Russians to import food from the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union.

It was imposed by the Kremlin in 2014 in retaliation for U.S. and EU sanctions over Russia's invasion and illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the Kremlin's support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, Interfax, and TASS