MOSCOW (AP) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has defended Russia's ban on imports of vegetables from all of the European Union following an outbreak of E. coli infection, saying the government must protect the population.
The EU has said the Russian ban, introduced after the outbreak of the infection, is disproportionate.
Putin on Friday rejected the EU claim, saying that authorities in Russia can't risk population's health by allowing EU vegetable imports at a time when the authorities in countries affected have failed to determine the cause of the outbreak, that has so far killed 18 people.
Russia had initially banned vegetables imports from Germany and Spain, and on Thursday extended the ban to the entire EU.
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