After a Russian warplane was shot down by Turkey last week, Russia has decided to impose restrictions on fruits and vegetable imports from Turkey.
According to ABC News, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said that the new sanction may take effect a couple more weeks to give Russian firms ample time to look for new suppliers and limit any price increase.
During the Ukraine crisis, Russia has previously imposed restrictions to the European Union and the United States as well. This has been blamed for the increase prices of food in the Russian market.
The new sanctions against Turkey were announced during a meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The sanctions also include restrictions on Turkish construction projects and road transport in Russia.
Two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a declaration that orders imports from Turkey will be restricted; the measures were formally drawn and announced. More so, the new sanctions also include an end to visa-free travel for Turks in Russia and any extension of labour contract for Turks working in Russia as of January 1.
Allegedly, the plane was shot down to protect Turkish exploitations on illegal imports of oil produced by Islamic State rebels in Syria according to Putin. In defence, Turkey claims the plane has violated its airspace near the Syrian border. Meanwhile, Russia says it was in Syrian airspace during a military operation.
During the Paris global conference climate change conference last Monday, Putin said that the shooting down the warplane was a huge mistake.
"We have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory," the Russian president said.
"We have received additional information which unfortunately confirms that this oil, produced in areas controlled by [ISIL] and other terrorist organisations, is transported on an industrial scale to Turkey," said Putin as reported in Aljazeera.
The decree also ended chartered flights from Russia to Turkey, and an end to any vacation packages that include a stay in Turkey. Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is still adamant not to apologize to Russia for shooting down the warplane but hopes Putin will reconsider sanctions.
