EU to pressure Egypt and Turkey on Russia food embargo

Egypt and Turkey are set to join Latin American nations in facing heightened diplomatic pressure from the EU, which insists they should not take advantage of Moscow’s food embargo against European producers.

European foreign ministers are holding an emergency summit in Brussels on Friday to discuss the crises in Ukraine and Iraq. Senior EU diplomats said representatives from the 28 countries were expected to discuss a united response against countries moving in to fill the gap created by Moscow’s embargo against EU food.

Retaliating against sanctions, Russia last week banned imports of many EU and US foods. Officials in Brussels say countries such as Brazil and Egypt will undermine international diplomatic efforts on Ukraine if they move in to replace these EU exports.

The EU’s diplomatic initiative to dissuade third countries from exporting to Russia has already triggered a withering response from Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s president. He retorted that Quito did not have to ask anyone’s permission to export to “friendly nations”. “As far as I know, Latin America is not part of the European Union – not yet anyway,” he quipped.