Government vice-president and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos commented on Thursday on the Russian Federation’s announcement of a sweeping ban on agricultural products imported from the E.U. and the U.S.

The ban is a retaliatory measure designed to hit back at the economic sanctions imposed in the wake of the MH17 disaster and Mr. Venizelos underlined that the Greek government is in ongoing contact to ensure the smallest possible impact or, if possible, no practical impact at all.

More specifically, when asked by a reported to comment on the measures announced earlier in the day by the Russian Federation and on the impact of this announcement on the Greek agricultural economy, Mr. Venizelos said the following:

“The decisions President Putin has made are decisions that concern the whole of the western world: the EU, the U.S., Canada, Australia. We are in ongoing contact to ensure the smallest possible impact or, if possible, no practical impact at all. I don’t want to reveal right now what process we are using. Greece, as a country of the European Union that meets its community obligations is trying to have the best possible relations with all countries and the government is trying to protect Greek agricultural production.”