Putin: Banned products get in Russia through Belarus

• 26.08.2014, 16:03

The president of Russia accuses Belarus of smuggling.

Belarus re-exports the EU products that were banned in Russia, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Customs Union heads of state with Petro Poroshenko in the presence of the EU's representatives, Interfax reports.

“Even the Customs Union members bring the banned EU products into the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, in this particular case, it is done through Belarus,” he says. “You read 'made in Belarus' on the label, but you remove the label and see that it was made in Poland.”

The volume of the re-export will increase tenfold and deluge Russia due to the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, Putin added.

“I know that the leadership of Belarus, both the government and the president, are trying to prevent this negative illegal practice. But we have an agreement with them, which we don't have with Ukraine,” Putin said.

The Russian president hopes for a constructive discussion in Minsk on Tuesday, where Russia's arguments will be heard and taken into account by all partners.

“In general, we stand for establishing closer cooperation between the EU and the Eurasian economic organisation,” Putin said.