Russia is banning all food imports from the U.S. and European Union in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the West over the conflict in Ukraine.

The Russian state news agency RIA said the ban would apply to all European fruit and vegetables and all U.S. produce.

According to a spokesman for Russia's food safety authority VPSS, President Vladimir Putin ordered the ban to punish the U.S. and other countries that imposed sanctions on his country.

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The spokesman, Alexei Alexeenko, said the ban would be "quite substantial", and would affect American poultry products in particular.

The economic impact of the ban will be felt not only by Western farmers who export to Russia but also by Russian consumers who rely on lower-priced food imports, Reuters said.

Russia is the biggest market for European fruit and vegetable exports and the second largest buyer of U.S. poultry.

Moscow's response to Western sanctions come as fighting in Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian rebels intensifies.

Since Tuesday nearly 20 Ukrainian troops had been killed and at least 50 injured in clashes in eastern Ukraine, according to officials in Kiev.

A military spokesman said rebels and border guards inside Russian shelled and launched artillery attacks on Ukrainian government forces.

As the fighting escalates, NATO has warned of a possible Russian invasion into Ukraine.

A spokeswoman for the military alliance said around 20,000 Russian soldiers had set up positions on the border with Ukraine, and added that Moscow could use "the pretext of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission as an excuse to send troops into Eastern Ukraine."

Russia's defense ministry rejected NATO's claims. "We've been hearing this for three months already," a ministry spokesman said.

The fighting in Ukraine erupted after Russia's annexation of Crimea peninsula in March.

The West alleges Moscow is arming pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, who have been accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17.

Ukrainian government troops have recaptured a number of rebel-held towns and are closing in on Donetsk and Luhansk, which the rebels have declared capitals of two "people's republics."

Tagsrussia vs. west, Russia food ban, economic sanctions, food ban, Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine fighting, NATO, Europe conflict