Moscow, Aug 7 (IANS/ITAR -TASS): In a tit-for-tat response to Western sanctions imposed last week, the Russian government has placed a one-year ban on imports of agricultural raw and food products from the US, the European Union (EU), Australia, Canada, and Norway, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Wednesday to ban for one year imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from the countries which imposed sanctions against Russia.
"The government is ready to revise the one-year term of the imposed measures if the situation changes," Medvedev, who signed the relevant governmental decree, said Thursday.
Russia has long restrained from responding to the sanctions imposed by the West, Medvedev said.
"We hoped until the very last moment that our foreign partners would realise that the path of sanctions is the path with a dead end and nobody needs them. However, they failed to realise it," Medvedev added.
The EU sanctions on Moscow took effect last week, which includes a package of punitive measures targeting Russia's finance, defence and energy sectors.
The US and Japan also announced new sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in the current eastern Ukraine standoff and the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane, which killed 298 people on board.
Russia accused the EU of being manipulated by "Washington's dictation", and slammed the US sanctions as "destructive and short-sighted".