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Agriculture Ministry: Complete lifting of Turkish food embargo hardly possible by year-end

Turkey is not yet ready to meet all the requirements of the Russian Federation for all types of products, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said

MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. Complete elimination of the food embargo on Turkey will hardly be possible by the end of this year, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev told reporters on Tuesday.

"I think, no, [little time] is left," the Minister said responding to the question regarding the possibility to completely lift the embargo on Turkey’s foods this year.

Turkey is not yet ready to meet all the requirements of the Russian Federation for all types of products, Tkachev said.

According to Tkachev, the issue of lifting the embargo on Turkish agricultural products was discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of Prime Ministers of Russia and Turkey. "The Turkish side cannot ensure the safety of products supplied to the Russian market for all production," Tkachev said.

He noted that Russia’s agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor will analyze the situation, and later political and economic decisions will be based on it.

Russia partly lifted the embargo on Turkish agricultural products in October 2016 and authorized import of drupes and citrus fruit. Discussions on other products continue.