MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia will decide on lifting food embargo, which bans imports from countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow, taking into account both the European Union's actions and Russia's national interests, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.
"We will make these decisions, if you will forgive me my pompous expression, going by our national interests," Medvedev told a Russian television channel.
The prime minister added that Moscow introduced the embargo in response to the Western sanctions and will wait for the EU member states to make the first move.
"Then, in August, since the retaliatory restrictive measures were introduced for one year, we will make decisions on whether we will keep them, change them partially or abandon them altogether," Medvedev said.
Last year, the United States, the European Union and a number of their allies imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia over its alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis, a claim denied by Moscow.
