Italy asks Russia to buy Parmesan cheese

Italian Ambassador to Russia Pasquale Terracciano said that the inclusion of Parmesan cheese on the list of products banned for imports as part of counter-sanctions was a technical mistake. In an interview with Forbes, Terracciano said that he would like Russia to resume imports of Italian Parmesan.

According to the ambassador, Russia imposed restrictive measures on fresh food products, while it takes Parmesan months to ripen. In addition, this cheese does not contain lactose. Terracciano stressed that correcting such a mistake would be a good gesture towards a country that has been  friendly to Russia for many years.

It is worthy of note that Russia's consumer and health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, started an investigation into the question of the possible mistake.

It is worthy of note that the ambassador did not hold anything against Russia's counter-sanctions. He acknowledged that Russia had to take retaliatory measures, while changes in political conditions were required to abandon the confrontation.

• Moscow banned imports of food products from the European Union and the United States following the crisis in Ukraine and Russia's reunification with the Crimea.
• Russia banned imports of EU and US fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products.
• The counter-sanctions were originally introduced for a year, but they were repeatedly extended and the list of products was revised afterwards.