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Russian Federation to ban Ukraine food imports

Trudeau said the two leaders had a brief conversation on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.

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Ukraine has estimated it could lose up to US$600m in exports to Russian Federation during 2016, after Moscow announced it is to impose a ban on the country’s food imports starting on 1 January.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin suggesting closer trade ties between the EU and the EAEU. “As we have said, we expect the Russian and Ukrainian authorities to conduct direct discussions on this matter”, he said in an emailed statement.

Ulyukaev added the Kremlin plans to introduce customs tariffs on import of other goods from Ukraine.

Ukraine will thus face the same barriers as the EU. Moscow and Kiev have been at loggerheads over the issue since then, in the context of a wider deterioration in relations caused by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. At the same time the International Monetary Fund agreed to with the status of the debt, and we are saying again that this is sovereign debt, and it cannot be looked at the same way as commercial debt.

“There has been – and not since today, I’m afraid – a short-term instinct to seek any good excuse to back down on the appropriate and proportional response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine”, said Konrad Szymanski, Poland’s deputy foreign minister, according to Reuters. “Unfortunately, we have not received any offer, any official statement from the finance ministry, in particular, Russia”, Shevalev said.In August, a creditor group reached a $15 billion restructuring agreement with Kyiv that included a 20 percent principal writedown and a four-year maturity extension.

Ukraine is waiting for the ruling of the Stockholm arbitration not later than at the end of the first half of 2016.

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A man puts flowers near the French embassy to commemorate victims of attacks in Paris, in Kiev, Ukraine, November 14, 2015.

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