Russia announced the ban on the import of bananas from Ecuadorweeks after Quito announced its intention to send old Soviet weapons to the United States to send them to Ukraine.
In a statement published by Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance service, the organization states that it has “suspended” the authorization of five Ecuadorian exporters as of “February 5.”
This entity argues the decision due to the detection of a devastating insect.
According to Russian media, nine out of ten bananas imported into Russia come from Ecuador.
The phytosanitary service also applied the same measure “as of February 9” for certain flowers of Ecuador imported into Russia.
These restrictive measures occur after the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboawill announce on January 10 that accepted the United States’ offer to exchange old Soviet military equipment for new generation American weapons with an estimated value of about 200 million dollars.
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Washington explained that the weapons exchanged with Ecuador would be sent to Ukraine to support its troops on the front against Russia.
This bilateral agreement aroused Moscow’s anger.
“A decision like that reckless “It was taken by the Ecuadorian side under strong pressure from foreign interested parties,” the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, María Zajárova, denounced last week.
The spokesperson also assured that Ecuador is contractually obligated “not to transfer (these equipment) to a third party without having obtained the agreement of the Russian side.”
Noboaborn in the United States, defended a few days ago the right of Ecuador to transfer these weapons that They are nothing more than “junk” and assured that Quito “will maintain its agreement in all cases.”
He Ecuadorian president He spoke in December 2023 with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyduring the inauguration of the Argentine president Javier Milei in Buenos Aires.
Since the beginning of its operation in Ukraine almost two years ago, Moscow has sought to strengthen its economic and diplomatic ties with southern countries, especially Latin American and African countries, to try to avoid Western sanctions.
