Russia stops imports from Ukraine

Russia has halted all imports from Ukraine. Russian customs service has placed all import items from its southwestern neighbor into a "risk group", designating them potentially dangerous, a statement from Ukraine Employers Federation said on Wednesday. The designation led to an indefinite and invariable suspension of imports, the statement said. According to the federation, the move will cause Ukraine a potential loss of 2-2.5 billion dollars in the second half of this year. The AA correspondent says there are claims the federation is seeking Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov's help for a solution to the issue. Russia's Federal Customs Service has yet to comment.