Ukraine and the EU to set up a coordination group on agricultural exports

UkrAgroConsult

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen have announced their intention to establish a joint coordination group with the EU to address issues related to the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.

The President made this statement at a joint briefing with the President of the European Commission in Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine counts on the solidarity of its neighboring countries given the extraordinary challenges it faces.

“The tough, even cruel protectionist measures of our neighbors during the war cannot but disappoint, to put it mildly. Any restrictions on our exports are absolutely unacceptable now, because it does not strengthen all of us in Europe, but only strengthens the capabilities of the aggressor,” the President said.

“We propose to establish a coordination group to monitor the relevant issues and refrain from any decisions on trade without consulting Ukraine. We expect strong European decisions from the EU and the lifting of all restrictions as soon as possible – if there is political will. And our talks today show that there is such a will.

We will be able to find optimal and truly strong solutions that will protect the interests of both Europe as a whole and Ukrainians who suffer, on top of everything else, from the export restrictions imposed on us,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen noted that the situation with Ukrainian exports requires an urgent solution. “The immediate priority now is to ensure that grain imports continue uninterrupted and at the lowest possible cost. This requires close cooperation of various parties. To this end, we will set up a coordination platform to make the ‘solidarity routes’ fully operational,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

Tags: Ukraine, export, grain, EU, restrictions