It seems that Russia's food fight with the West is continuning apace:
Russia's food safety inspectors have closed two more McDonald's restaurants as the government continues to crack down on the chain amid tit-for-tat sanctions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine.
Inspectors from Rospotrebnadzor consumer protection agency said they ordered the two restaurants -- one in Yekaterinburg and the other in Kazan -- to close temporaily "for technical reasons" after "unscheduled inspections."
The latest closures bring to six the number of McDonald's restaurants shut by state health officials in recent weeks.
Alexis Rodzianko, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, told media on August 21 that the crackdown is "driven by political issues surrounding Ukraine."
Russia earlier this month slapped bans on Western food imports after Washington and Brussels imposed economic sanctions in response to Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and backing of separatists.
(ITAR-TASS, Interfax)
!!! BREAKING NEWS !!!
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko shook hands at the start of multilateral talks in Minsk, the first time the two presidents have met since June.
Putin arrives in Belarus ahead of summit with #Ukraine http://t.co/oRWY0k15qR pic.twitter.com/Q9cguM23PR
— ITV News (@itvnews) August 26, 2014
Belarusia hopes to benefit as host of Ukraine-Russia talks http://t.co/4DAJOSBaej
— The Guardian (@guardian) August 26, 2014
The U.S. Army vet Mark Gregory Paslawsky (aka "Franko") who died fighting pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine is being buried today. Here's a tweet from his funeral in Kyiv.
У Києві провели в останню путь бійця 'Донбасу' з позитивним 'Франко'. Марк Паславський загинув 19… http://t.co/E3YQrcplFa
— andrii bashtovyi (@nomoreanry) August 26, 2014
Russia quietly burying its troops recently killed in Ukraine http://t.co/zuj0jJ4BBp via @novaya_gazeta pic.twitter.com/CTLOGX6oHk
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) August 26, 2014
At eastern checkpoint into Mariupol, excavators are digging deep trenches. City calm, but preparations for onslaught evidently in motion
— pete_leonard (@pete_leonard) August 26, 2014
At eastern checkpoint into Mariupol, excavators are digging deep trenches. City calm, but preparations for onslaught evidently in motion
— pete_leonard (@pete_leonard) August 26, 2014
Well well well. Interfax suggesting that Stroitransgaz, owned by Putin buddy Timchenko, will be chosen to build bridge across Kerch strait
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) August 26, 2014
Aleksandr Golts has been writing for "The Moscow Times" about the upcoming summit in Minsk. He is not too hopeful of a positive outcome:
The main problem is that it remains unclear exactly what might serve as the basis of a compromise between Russia and Ukraine.
With Ukrainian forces embroiled in street battles in Donetsk and Luhansk, Kiev apparently hopes to win by military means and is demanding that Moscow cease its support for the separatists. But Moscow, for its part, seems unwilling to stop supplying the separatists with weapons.
The Kremlin instead hopes to freeze the conflict in its current stage, essentially giving legitimacy to the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and creating a Bosnia scenario in which ethnic divisions are legitimized.
Moscow clearly has no intention of reducing its support for the separatists, and it is no coincidence that reports of the upcoming meeting between Putin and Poroshenko were almost immediately followed by media reports that a Russian tactical force of 1,200 armed men and about 100 pieces of military hardware had entered Luhansk. Several days later, Donetsk separatists announced that they had formed several military units, including two tank battalions and several artillery battalions.
Read the entire artticle here.