Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, denied that there are any political underpinnings behind Russia’s ban on meat imports from the United States.

“In this situation, it doesn’t matter how this is being politicized in the U.S., what does matter to us is that there are reasons for this decision. It is the responsibility of certain agencies in the Russian Federation that only products that meet the necessary requirements should have access to the territory of the Russian Federation,” Peskov told reporters. “From this standpoint, the opinion of our foreign partners is naturally secondary to the work of our agencies.”

The U.S. Meat Export Federation said earlier that the United States may suspend all its meat exports to Russia effective from December 8. Federation analysts expressed suspicion that Russia’s objections to the use of ractopamine were a response to the Magnitsky bill, passed by the U.S. Senate on December 6.

Russia’s chief sanitary official, Gennady Onishchenko, claimed that sanitary concerns were the only reason for Russia’s objects to ractopamine use in cattle and pig fodder. Russia’s Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervisory Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) also denied that the tightened ractopamine control was a reaction to the Magnitsky bill.

A number of U.S. officials announced that the recent ban on imports of American beef and pork to Russia is considered a breach of World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations ahead of Russia-E.U. consultations on WTO compliance in Geneva. During the negotiations scheduled for mid-December, the sides are set to discuss claims against each other on lack of compliance on some WTO agreements. The E.U. is concerned with the excise duty on assembling vehicles in Russia, bans on importing livestock, as well as imports tariffs on some goods. Russia, in turn, is concerned with measures related to the third energy package, anti-dumping measures, and limitations on the transit of energy goods. Previously, the E.U. already threatened that it might appeal to WTO should Russia fail to comply with the requirements of the organization.