The Russian president Putin and EU president Juncker met each other yesterday at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. The sanctions weren’t mentioned during the meeting, the Kremlin announced once it was over. “There is a general understanding that despite disagreements we shouldn’t operate within a vacuum,” according to the Kremlin. Later this month the EU will decide on the extension of the sanctions against Russia.
Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy is joining those in favour of lifting the sanctions against Russia, making his speech at the Forum. “We don’t need a new Cold War. I can’t allow a political wall to be built between Russia and Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain,” according to Sarkozy. This is why both parties have to take steps towards gradually lifting the sanctions.
At the same time, some calculations are made on how the Russian counter-sanction influence some European countries: the trade between Russian and Belgium was 28% lower in January this year than it was a year previously. According to Russian calculations, the turnover of the Belgian agricultural sector has decreased by 5% due to the boycott. The Belgian sector has partially been able to adapt to the new situation, the Russian ambassador in Belgium said to Russian media. Russia mainly imported pears, tomatoes, pork and dairy from Belgium. Apple prices are on average 25% lower, but the main loss is being taken by the pear grower. In 2013 pears were still 30% of the export to Russia.