WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s agriculture minister said on Wednesday talks with Ukraine were on track as the two countries try to resolve a dispute about a ban imposed by Warsaw on Polish grain imports.
Warsaw and Kyiv are allies, but relations have soured since Poland, Hungary and Slovakia decided to extend a ban that was introduced to protect farmers from a surge in grain and food imports from Ukraine after Russia’s invasion last year.
The Polish government is also under pressure from the far right to take a tougher stance on Ukraine before an election on Oct. 15.
“I am glad that we are talking about the future, that we are building mechanisms for the future and we are calming certain emotions that have not served us well, and this is probably a good direction,” the Polish minister, Robert Telus, told a press conference after online talks with Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky.
Ukraine’s agriculture ministry said the two ministers would hold further talks in a week on a licensing procedure proposed by Kyiv.
Ukraine’s proposal involves the introduction of export licenses for corn, rapeseed, sunflower seed and wheat destined for export to five neighbouring countries in central Europe that are members of the European Union.
Under the proposal, Ukraine would agree on the list and volume of products with importing countries, which would determine whether they are ready to accept these goods.
Poland wants Ukraine to withdraw a complaint it had filed with the World Trade Organization over the bans.
Ukrainian trade representative Taras Kachka, who described recent talks with Poland as constructive, later said Kyiv hoped to receive guarantees that such restrictions on its grain imports would never recur.
“Only when we receive these guarantees will we formally announce to the whole world that this dispute is over”, he said in televised comments.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz; Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Editing by Anil D’Silva and Timothy Heritage)
