MINSK (Sputnik) — After in 2014 Moscow imposed embargo on EU agricultural production in response to Brussels' anti-Russian sanctions, Russian foodstuff watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor enhanced control over imports from Belarus, as numerous illicit supplies from the EU disguised as Belarusian production were stopped at the Russian border.
"If our Belarusian partners take certain steps required to meet the interests, primarily, of their own domestic agricultural producers, they will be able to export even more products to the Russian market. It is necessary to use the current situation in order to boost production, including for the needs of the Russian market," Putin said, as he spoke at the Third Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions in Minsk.
"If we do not do this today, and instead allow products under sanctions to reach the Russian market, Belarusian producers will find it more difficult to make progress on the Russian market. Meanwhile, we want to get apples, meat, milk and other products of Belarusian origin rather than those that transit Belarusian territory," Putin added.
