Negotiations on unblocking the border with Ukraine have ended in Poland — they lasted more than 6 hours. The meeting took place in the tripartite format "Ukraine — Poland — European Union."
This was reported by the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that the situation at the border and trade in the agricultural sector were discussed at the meeting.
"We expect Poland to give specific answers to the steps we have proposed. Most of them have already been completed. We expect the European Commission to ban the transit and export of goods from Russia and Belarus, as well as the approval of our agreement on joint control at checkpoints," Shmyhal stressed.
Ukraine expects that todayʼs consultations will have results and will help find ways to resolve problematic issues between the countries.
"It was a difficult but frank conversation between ministries and associations. It is important that options for solving the problem were previously discussed, which will be announced soon. At the same time, the issue is difficult for all parties and requires additional time," noted Minister of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine Mykola Solskyi.
Against the background of these negotiations, the Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported that Polish protesters had temporarily unblocked the “Uhryniv-Dolgobychuv” checkpoint. 120 trucks are waiting to cross the border. Unhindered access will approximately last until April 2.
- From November 2023, Poles periodically block checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. Polish carriers, and then farmers, have been obstructing the movement of trucks for varying lengths of time, demanding from their authorities and the European Union to improve working conditions and preferences. They are asking for a ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine that do not meet EU standards, the return of the permit system for Ukrainian transporters, subsidies for fertilizers, compensation for excise duty on fuel, payment of subsidies, and have other demands that have nothing to do with Ukraine.
- Ukraine considers criticism of its products to be groundless and calls it a political issue.