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The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calls on neighbouring countries and the states of the European Union to refrain from any decisions regarding trade with Ukraine without consulting it.

Briefly:

From May 2, according to the decision of the European Commission, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia undertake to cancel their unilateral measures regarding the import of agricultural products coming from Ukraine. At the same time, 4 agricultural crops - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower - will not be exported to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia until June 5, 2023.

This is stated in the joint appeal of the leading public associations of the agri-food sector of Ukraine. The agricultural community is extremely concerned about the situation with the unilateral ban on the import of Ukrainian food to certain EU countries.

We are talking about the decision of the Governments of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria to ban the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. These decisions also provoke certain similar actions of other EU countries that are neighbours of Ukraine. In particular, there are currently ongoing discussions in Romania.

The UN-backed grain corridor is the main exit route for Ukrainian agricultural exports, so the decision by Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria to block them too will cause considerable damage to Ukrainian farmers and a sector hard hit by the war.

Kyiv's hope is that a negotiated solution will be found on a multilateral scale between Ukraine, the national governments involved and the European Commission (EC), whose decision to lift tariffs on its products triggered a reaction from the four eastern countries.