Russia pulls out of Ecuadorian bananas due to Putin’s anger after Quito-US deal involving Soviet arms

Russia announced a ban on banana imports from Ecuador weeks after Quito announced its intention to send old Soviet weapons to the United States to ship to Ukraine.

In a statement released by RoselkhoznadzorThe organization, the Russian Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service, claims it has “suspended” the authorization of five Ecuadorian exporters “as of February 5”.

This entity argues the decision due to the discovery of a destructive insect.

According to Russian media, Nine out of ten bananas imported into Russia come from Ecuador.

The Phytosanitary Service also applied the same measure “on February 9” to certain flowers imported from Ecuador to Russia.

These restrictive measures come after Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboaannounced on January 10 that it had accepted an offer from the United States to exchange old Soviet military equipment for new generation American weapons with an estimated value of about $200 million.

Washington explained that weapons exchanged with Ecuador would be sent to Ukraine to support its troops. Front against Russia.

The bilateral agreement sparked outrage Moscow.

“Such a reckless decision was taken by the Ecuadorian side under strong pressure from external stakeholders.”Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zazarova condemned the attack last week.

The spokesperson also assured that Ecuador is bound by the agreement “not to transfer (these equipment) to a third party without obtaining the agreement of the Russian side.”

Noboa, who was born in the United States, defended Ecuador’s right to transfer these weapons a few days ago as nothing more than “scrap” and assured that Quito “will uphold its agreement in all cases.”

The President of Ecuador spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart in December 2023, Volodymyr ZelenskyDuring the inauguration of the President of Argentina Javier Milli in Buenos Aires.

Since beginning its operations in Ukraine almost two years ago, Moscow

Seeks to strengthen its economic and diplomatic ties with southern countries, particularly Latin American and African countries, to try to avoid Western sanctions.

Ecuador’s Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries informed the press that: “At this time, high-level meetings are being held that allow the country to take positions. It will be communicated as soon as we have the answer.”

However, Russia has indicated that both the suspension and the ban are due Phytosanitary reasonsThe move is believed to be retaliation for Noboa’s comments, especially after a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, Maria ZakharovaNoboa expressed the Kremlin’s displeasure at the description given to its equipment: “If it were scrap metal, as they call it in Ecuador, it would be difficult for Washington to propose its exchange for modern equipment, certainly for a fairly high sum. We hope Quito understands it that way,” the Russian official said. The statements came four days after what Noboa said.

The United States has received Russian equipment and will deliver new ones to Ecuador. Appraisal of new equipment is approx USD 200 million.

Zazarova also suggested that: “Such a hasty decision was taken by the Ecuadorian side under severe pressure from interested persons from abroad.According to Russian authorities, Ecuador cannot deliver military equipment to the United States without Moscow’s consent.

Last Friday, the Russian Phytosanitary Inspection Agency (Roselzhoznadzor) indicated that the banana export certificates of these five companies would be temporarily suspended because Reported presence of humpback flies in shipments arriving in Russia.

The measures adopted by the Putin regime will significantly affect Ecuadorian exporters and therefore the profits the government receives from these products. Ecuador is the largest exporter of bananas in the world. It exported 6.5 million tonnes in 2023 alone. Russia, second only to the European Union, is the second most important buyer of Ecuadorian bananas.with a participation of about 23%.

(With information from AFP)