Russia will lift a long-running ban on Polish meat imports, the country's Agricultural Minister Alexei Gordeyev told journalists on Wednesday, DPA quoted news agency Interfax as reporting. The controversial ban on all Polish raw meat and plant imports to Russia has been a great source of diplomatic tension between the two nations - spilling over into worsening EU-Russian relations. Relations have been further strained over energy issues and Russia's opposition to US plans to install a missile defence shield on Polish soil. But top-level diplomatic negotiations over the meat embargo, which has been in place since November 2005, began to change with the defeat of Poland's ruling party in October parliamentary elections. Russia cited poor quality controls for the meat ban. However, Poland called the move politically motivated and blocked the start of talks between Moscow and Brussels on a new strategic partnership agreement covering areas such as energy, human rights and trade. Officials in Warsaw say Poland is likely to drop its opposition to talks on a new EU-Russia partnership agreement if Moscow lifts the ban.
