Can anyone on the thread explain to me just why Putin/Russian issued a whole series of banned food products when there is this backdoor that five tanks can drive through---so was it just for public Russian consummation or was he simply going through the motions of exactly what?

From the Russian News Agency RIA:

Embargoed EU Goods Actively Re-Imported to Russia via Belarus – Putin

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140826/192...-Belarus-.html … prin @ria_novosti