Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian government’s agricultural oversight agency, said on Friday that the decision is the result of a weeklong inspection of Armenian dairy firms conducted by its officials this month. It said they detected use of “milk from infected livestock” and “raw materials from third countries” breaching free-trade rules of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

‘Armenia has still not established a system to confirm the origin and safety of milk or other dairy raw materials used in production,” Rosselkhoznadzor claimed in a statement.

Armenia’s Food Safety Inspectorate denied the alleged violations later in the day. Its spokeswoman, Anush Harutiunian, said the government agency regularly inspects all local dairy firms and does not hesitate to take action against those of them that deviate from safety standards.

Citing sanitary grounds, the Russian authorities blocked in late May and early June multimillion-dollar imports of Armenian fruits, vegetables, mineral water, flowers, fish and some alcoholic beverages. Moscow imposed the sanctions amid its growing warnings about the economic cost of Armenia’s deepening ties with the European Union. It has been pressing Yerevan to quickly choose between continuing to seek EU membership and remaining part of the Russian-led bloc vital for the Armenian economy.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian ruled out any change in his pro-Western foreign policy and downplayed the impact of the Russian sanctions after his disputed victory in the June 7 parliamentary elections. He claimed to have reached unspecified “understandings” with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during their July 6 meeting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

Moscow has not reversed or eased any of its sanctions since then. A senior Russian lawmaker, Vladimir Jabarov, said on Wednesday that Mishustin repeated Moscow’s demands during the talks with Pashinian.

“It was made clear that Armenia must make a decision,” Jabarov told a news conference.

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