MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Joint efforts of Russia and Western countries are needed to end sanctions confrontation, but Western partners do not yet demonstrate such readiness, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
"It was not us who started this sanctions confrontation, and in order to end it, joint efforts are needed. Unfortunately, we do not see any positive changes yet from these countries," Medvedev said.
Russia has approved earlier today the list of products that fall under its counter-sanctions. "The list is no different [from last year] with the exception of a number of positions on biomaterials," Medvedev said at the government meeting. "The same animal products remain, including cattle meat, pork, edible by-products, fish and shellfish, milk and dairy products, vegetables, sausages and so on," he explained. "All of these positions will remain the same — I point out to everybody responsible for the work," the prime minister addressed the participants of the meeting.
The prime minister noted that Russia’s actions are driven by economic concerns, not political issues. "Our farmers asked to keep food embargo on these types of products for as long as possible. It is understandable," Medvedev said. "When we were forced to impose response restrictions, response measures almost a year ago, this step turned out to be very difficult and sensitive for us, in part because of food prices hike. At the same time, it gave an impetus to agriculture, and today agriculture is developing rather dynamically, thanks to targeted support from the government and import restrictions," he added.
On June 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on extending the counter-sanctions against a number of states for one more year starting from August 6, 2015. The government was instructed to ensure the implementation of the document.
The counter-sanctions were introduced for the first time on August 6 of last year, for 12 months.