Russia broke off talks with Moldova about lifting a ban on imports of the country's wine after a Moldovan minister said there was nothing dangerous about its wine, a senior health official said Wednesday.
The Federal Consumer Protection Service banned wine imports from Moldova earlier this month after Chisinau introduced a national day of mourning called "Soviet Occupation Day."
The service, which has regularly banned countries' top food exports amid political tensions, cited the wine's substandard quality.
Gennady Onishchenko, the service's director, said the talks were cut off because the Moldovan agriculture minister denied that the country's wine contained harmful substances.
"He denied everything and said that everything was fine. … The lack of understanding of this move is making us take an indefinite break in the consultations that were just beginning," Onishchenko told Interfax.
Moldova's Constitutional Court rejected the day of mourning on Monday.
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