Allegations of the poor quality of Belarusian foodstuffs are groundless, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting to discuss the measures to remove the ban on the import of Belarusian products to Russia and the transit of embargoed food, BelTA has learned.

“If we ask Belarusians or Russians which products are safer – Belarusian or Russian ones – the question will make them laugh. With all due respect to Russia, they are 50 years behind Belarus in terms of food safety,” the Belarusian leader said.

“Why whip up tensions, create problems in this situation?” the head of state wondered. In his words, at the start of 2014, before Russia’s embargo, Belarus and the Russian Federation had agreed on the amount of the Belarusian food supplies. “As for today, with the year 2014 coming to a close, we have not yet supplied the agreed amount of food in full.