Ukraine is ready for a compromise, but threatens neighboring countries to ban imports if they refuse

After Ukraine filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over unilateral restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, the country is offering its neighbors a "compromise" agreement. This was announced by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.

"Our government offers the EU and neighboring countries a compromise scenario. We have already submitted to the European Commission an action plan to control the export of four groups of agricultural products from Ukraine," Shmyhal said.

According to him, such control will help prevent any market distortions in neighboring EU member states.

"In particular, we plan to adopt a resolution according to which goods exported to five neighboring countries will be subject to verification and approval by the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy," Shmyhal said.

The Prime Minister also noted that Ukraine has already filed a formal request to Poland, Hungary and Slovakia regarding the violation of WTO rules.

"We are launching an anti-discrimination investigation into the unfriendly actions of these countries in the trade sphere based on statistics for 2023. If Poland and Hungary do not agree to the agreed measures with the European Commission and do not lift unilateral restrictions on our goods, we will decide to ban imports of certain categories of goods from these countries," Shmyhal emphasized.

He emphasized that Russia is attacking Ukrainian ports every day, destroying infrastructure, attacking agricultural enterprises and mining fields.

"Further blocking of our agricultural exports by neighboring countries will have a negative impact on the Ukrainian economy, finances, tax revenues and jobs. This step is also in line with the Russian plan to create a global food crisis," the Prime Minister emphasized.

He called on neighboring countries to abandon harmful and unlawful restrictions and develop a constructive dialogue that will be beneficial to all parties.