Russia will begin banning the import of Armenian dairy products starting from 27 July, citing the alleged presence of ‘milk from infected livestock’. The move is the latest in a series of import restrictions imposed on Armenian products in what has been widely viewed as politically motivated.

The sweeping restrictions began in the leadup to the June parliamentary elections in Armenia, which the Kremlin clearly expressed hope Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party would lose. The import bans have continued since Pashinyan’s party won the election and expanded into other spheres as both the EU and the Armenian government have attempted to soften the impact by diversifying exports.

The ban on dairy products was announced by Russia’s Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) on Friday.

Rosselkhoznadzor further claimed Armenia ‘lacks a system to confirm the origin and safety of milk or other dairy raw materials used in production’, and that in general, Armenia is ‘failing to monitor agricultural producers’,

Previously, Russia had banned the import of a wide range of Armenian products, including alcohol, flowers, fruits, vegetables, mineral water, fish, and others.

While Russia continues introducing new restrictions, Deputy Russian Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk has claimed that Russia did not ‘introduce any restrictions for Armenian imports at all’, calling it ‘usual normal work’.

Other Russian officials have said they would replace Armenian products in the Russian market with Azerbaijani goods.