Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has rejected Russian pressure on Ireland to negotiate a one-to-one deal to protect Irish beef sales to the country from next month.
Having refused to accept Polish beef for the last year, the Russians are now threatening to block all EU beef unless member states agree bilateral deals.
Asked if an Irish-Russian deal was something that he would support, the Taoiseach said in Brussels: "No, it's not. This will be dealt with as a European matter. The Commission will carry out the negotiations and deal with the Russians on this. We support that.
"It doesn't become a big issue for us for a few months, but I hope that this will be resolved very quickly," he told The Irish Times.
So far Russia has approached five other member states - Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Fianna Fáil MEPs, led by Liam Aylward, are keen to see Ireland negotiate directly if this is necessary to safeguard Irish sales, following talks with Russia's EU ambassador, Vladimir Chizhov.
This week Russia suggested to Mr Aylward that the Department of Agriculture's chief veterinary officer, Paddy Rohan, should travel to Moscow for talks. A Russian ban on Irish and European beef was inevitable, said Mr Aylward, unless serious diplomatic efforts took place to avert the crisis.
"This is an issue that should be settled between the European Commission and the Russian government, but to achieve this settlement, strong political engagement is needed at the highest levels," he said.
The controversy began after Moscow last year said some Polish meat was unsafe. Mr Ahern was to raise the issue with European Commission president José Manuel Barroso during last night's EU Council summit dinner.
Ireland currently sells 30,000 tonnes of frozen beef, mostly lower-grade forequarter cuts, to Russia annually, but there are hopes that higher-grade sales could increase in coming years.
Though trade deals are usually dealt with at EU level, Ireland has had special arrangements with Moscow before, particularly during the BSE crisis, when sales from individual counties were restricted.
The European Commission has told EU states not to sign individual deals and has also warned off Russia.
"We have told the Russians this is unacceptable and that they should be talking to the EU as a whole," said a spokesman for health commissioner Markos Kyprianou, whose planned visit to Moscow for talks next week is still in doubt.