Moscow bans bananas from Ecuador after Noboa transfers Russian military equipment to the US.

247 - Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance has expressed concern about the presence of fruit flies in bananas from Ecuador and urged the Andean country to partially halt its imports, according to the channel. RT.

According to the statement, "regarding the systematic detection of a quarantine pest dangerous to Russia and the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union," the service sent a request to the Ecuadorian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Franklin Danilo Palacios Márquez, to suspend the five banana trading companies that committed the most infractions.

Therefore, starting February 5th, Agzulasa, Don Carlos Fruit, Agroaereo, the Oro Agricultural Production Association, and Banano do Sul will no longer be able to import bananas to Russia due to the presence of fruit flies in their products.

Similarly, the service also warned that if the Ecuadorian side does not adopt effective measures and fruit flies continue to be detected in Ecuadorian bananas, "it will be forced to move to the next phase and introduce restrictive measures."

The fruit fly is considered a dangerous pest insect because it can cause parasitic diseases in domestic animals and humans. It generally lives in organic waste, both of plant and animal origin, and can therefore infest many foods, especially in transport containers, such as vegetables, fruits, flour, and soybeans. Furthermore, it is a vector for cholera.

The decision coincides with the shipment of Russian military equipment belonging to Ecuador to the United States. Ecuador can transfer Russian war material to the US because it is "scrap," declared the president of the Latin American country, Daniel Noboa, last week in an interview with the television station Ecuavisa.

Ecuador's decision to transfer old military equipment from Russia to the US was made under pressure and is "precipitated," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. "Our partners are perfectly aware of the contract provisions, which include the obligation to use the delivered property for the stated purposes and not to transfer it to third parties without obtaining the corresponding agreement from the Russian side," Zakharova noted, adding that this is a "precipitated" decision that – she said – "was taken by the Ecuadorian side under strong pressure from external stakeholders."

However, the head of the Pentagon's Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, recently stated that the US is in talks with several Latin American countries with the goal of supplying Ukraine with Russian-made military equipment in exchange for new weapons.