MOSCOW, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Russia and Poland agreed Wednesday to restore meat trade, a move that will improve both Russian-EU and Russian-Polish relations.
Polish Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki and his Russian counterpart Alexei Gordeyev, during talks in Moscow, reached an agreement on lifting a Russian ban on imports of Polish meat, Polish Radio said.
Gordeyev told reporters in Moscow that Russia and Poland agreed on the delivery of meat and dairy products and on lifting the ban on meat imports from Poland once a memorandum is signed, the Russian news agency Interfax said.
Interfax quoted a Kremlin official as saying the agreement would open the way for EU-Russian talks on a new partnership accords.
Relations between Poland and Russia became tense late in 2005 when Moscow imposed a ban on Polish meat imports claiming the products weren't of required quality. In apparent retaliation, Poland late in 2006 blocked Russian-EU talks on a new cooperation agreement.
Polish liberal pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who took office in mid-November, immediately announced he would reverse that decision taken by the previous government.
