The full EU report on relations with Russia is available on this link. Its very detailed and a bit long winded but has all sorts of interesting facts included. Worth a look:

A Power Audit of EU-Russia relations | European Council on Foreign Relations

Irish agricultural exports worldwide are €10 billion. To Russia just €237 million. The IFA getting a bit hysterical.

Originally Posted by Dame_Enda

Irish agricultural exports worldwide are €10 billion. To Russia just €237 million. The IFA getting a bit hysterical.

The ban was expected. Russia has been banning stuff randomly for a decade now. Last year it banned all pigmeat for reasons which escaped everybody but it pre-dated Ukraine. Its not a surprise.

Another question is what happens when a food market has the same demand and far less supply? I suspect food prices will boom a bit in Moscow which seems a bit self-defeating to me.

Overall, the major exporters knew this was coming as did the EU. We shall see how it turns out. 6% of all EU output goes to Russia. I don't know how much of that is food but it can't be very much due to the Russian tendency to randomly ban stuff over the last decade. Irish beef has been banned and unbanned at least 8 times in the last few years. Exporters sell when they can but are always aware it could stop any minute as it tends to.

Russia bans itself from eating Parmesan Cheese and Camembert in protest at corrupt state banks losing access to European capital markets.

-Ben Judah.

Reports Putin will make an 'emergency statement' on national tv at 20.30 Moscow time.

Its 14.17 in Moscow now so that gives us less than 6 hours to stock up on canned food and water and book a spot under the stairs. Going out to buy cat food now (for the cat, not me).

Originally Posted by Dame_Enda

Rights group: Pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine break laws of war

If true then that is unfortunate, if true, however what of the Ukrainians, bombing civilian areas in Donetsk and Luhansk and elsewhere, shooting unarmed civilians on the streets of their own cities? The evidence is out there, even reported by western media, feel free to look. The article quotes New York based Human Rights Watch, I wonder what have they got to say about Ukrainian war crimes?

Originally Posted by Dame_Enda

Human Rights Watch: Mass grave found in liberated Slovyansk. They are largely Protestants massacred by the terrorists,

Really? All the video says is they (CNN) have reports that eyewitnesses saw rebels burying bodies. That's it. Where do you get Protestants from? And by terrorists, I guess you mean Ukrainians who terrorised civilians by bombing and snipering them?

Originally Posted by drummed

Interestingly, alcohol isn't on the banned list.

We bring back truly fantastic Russian vodka each year. Unlike the crap stuff the West makes I've also brought back Ukrainian vodka (they call it horlivka, afaik) each time I've been, but it's just not as good.

And I think that should read: yet......western alcohol isn't on the list, yet. Oh yes, western producers are going to love this aren't they. Afaik Russia imports about 25% of the EU fruit and veg. Meat such as beef and chicken is also on the list. Western farmers will love this. Russia can survive, fear not - it simply means more will have to be produced within Russia, it makes Russia more self dependent, always a good thing. Given the Russophobia in the West, don't worry, the Russian middle classes will understand these actions.

According to the Irish Times *puke* "According to the European Commission, Russia bought 28 percent of EU fruit exports and 21.5 percent of its vegetables in 2011" http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world...1890014?page=1

Now I wonder who are EU producers going to sell that excess twenty odd percent of fruit and veg to? Or perhaps it will just rot.....Good to see Russia hitting back. The West cast the first stone, remember that.

Originally Posted by vanla sighs

Really? All the video says is they (CNN) have reports that eyewitnesses saw rebels burying bodies. That's it. Where do you get Protestants from? And by terrorists, I guess you mean Ukrainians who terrorised civilians by bombing and snipering them?

The Vice News Russian Roulette episode on it says many were local Protestants.

Another show trial of Ukrainian soldiers after Nadya Savchenko.

Russia illegally holds 46 Ukrainian servicemen, five of them charged with shelling of Russian territory

Originally Posted by Dame_Enda

The Vice News Russian Roulette episode on it says many were local Protestants.

Many of the 8 people in the, em, ",mass grave", is it? Well, if Vice News, says so it must be true! Admit it, you don't have the foggiest who those people are, neither do I. Quite possibly they were rebels killed in fighting or civilians killed by Ukrainian shelling and bombing of civilian areas.