Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev on Thursday officially announced Russia’s one year ban on a wide array of food imports—including beef, pork, fruit, vegetables and dairy products—from western nations as a response to economic sanctions imposed against it by the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia, and Norway.
According to the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS:
The import restrictions—which Medvedev said are effective immediately—come as a clear response to continued and escalated economic sanctions levied by these western countries against Russia over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The Obama administration and Congress have repeatedly called for tougher measures against Moscow for what they term as Russian “interference” in Ukraine where rebels in eastern regions remain in a protracted and increasingly deadly battle against the Ukraine Army. Though with more hesitancy, the EU countries have steadily increased their sanctions against Russia, which have closed down its access to financial markets and manufactured products.
The rebels in the east—who maintain control of areas in and around the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk—see the government in Kiev, which came to power in a coup earlier this year, as illegitimate and a threat to their Russian identities and regional autonomy. While the Kiev government has received steady support and financial backing from the U.S. and the EU, Moscow has attempted to broker a political settlement that acknowledges and protects the interests of those living in the east, closer to its border.
According to Reuters:
The United Nations warned this week that the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine is becoming increasingly dire.
On Thursday, the Ukraine Army shelled a hospital in the city of Donetsk, killing at least one person and injuring others. Separate shelling claimed other lives overnight. According to the Associated Press: