EU officials discuss compensation for farmers affected by Russian ban

Agricultural officials from all 28 European Union countries began emergency talks yesterday to weigh the impact of Russia’s ban on Western food imports and whether to compensate EU farmers.

Russia announced last week a one-year embargo on meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the US, the EU, Canada, Australia and Norway in retaliation for Western economic sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Analysts say Russia could be inflicting the sharpest pain on itself as it will drive up food prices for its consumers and stoke inflation, but EU farmers are concerned the gluts of fresh fruit and other produce they face will severely undermine the prices they can charge.