In an interview with Prensa Latina, the parliamentarian from the Citizen Revolution regretted how the Executive’s decision risks not only some elements in the commercial area, which are so sensitive, but also diplomatic relations and important pillars such as sovereignty.

There is clearly a thoughtless action on the part of the Ecuadorian Government in terms of insisting on complying with an agreement with Washington, the former diplomat, who represented Quito in Moscow between 2007 and 2015, stressed.

More than a month ago, Russia reminded Ecuador of the existence of an agreement that obliges Quito to ask for consent to send Russia’s weaponry to a third country.

That request for authorization did not happen, and was interpreted by Russia as a discourtesy and breach of a contract, Chavez explained.

He pointed out that now we are seeing some fruits of that harvest, since “they did not take into account how important Russia is for Ecuador as a destination for its star products.”

Last weekend, Moscow claimed that due to phytosanitary reasons, it had suspended the purchase of bananas and carnations from Ecuadorian producers.

jg/arm/mem/avr