Ukraine Ramps Up Trade War With Russia: Ukraine Bans Russian Food Imports In Tit-For-Tat Response

The trade war between Ukraine and Russia is heating up. The Ukrainian government announced Saturday it was introducing a ban on several Russian food imports, including vegetables, meat, fruit and fish, as well as dairy and alcohol products.

Officially effective Jan. 10, the ban comes after a Russian embargo on a range of Ukrainian food imports took hold New Year’s Day. According to a decree by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the prohibition of Russian products will last until Aug. 5 or “until the cancellation of the ban on imports of agricultural products, food and raw materials produced in Ukraine into the customs territory of the Russian Federation.”

Russia’s embargo on Ukranian products was imposed after Ukraine approved a free-trade agreement with the European Union. Russian officials said the move was necessary to protect its domestic markets, arguing the EU-Ukraine deal paved the way for European products to reach Russia without being properly taxed.

Moscow has opposed a trade pact between Kiev and Brussels. The current agreement between the two was OK’d more than two years after Ukraine was originally slated to sign an association deal with the EU. Under pressure from Russia, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych decided to back out of that treaty in late 2013. The about-face sparked protests in Kiev that culminated in the ousting of the Yanukovych government — and eventually, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and a violent pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

Russia also has imposed embargoes on food products from Western countries, including other nations in Europe, Australia and the U.S. Meanwhile, the EU and the U.S. have placed sanctions on major Russian banks, corporations and senior government officials.

In a sign of the worsening relations between Russia and the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a document naming the U.S. as a threat to Russian national security for the first time. It criticizes the EU and the U.S. for backing an “anti-constitutional coup d’etat in Ukraine.”