Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia are waiting for Ukraine to withdraw its complaint from the WTO

The Visegrád Four (V4) is waiting for Ukraine to withdraw its complaint from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

This was reported on the Polish radio station RMF FM.

According to the information, the agriculture ministers of the Visegrád Group countries, which include Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, have stated that Ukraine’s withdrawal of its complaint to the WTO regarding the grain embargo will improve the atmosphere in their relations with Kyiv.

“We received the news of Ukraine’s complaint to the World Trade Organization against our country with great surprise and concern, and we expect Ukraine to withdraw this decision,” said Poland’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Ryszard Bartosik, after negotiations among the Visegrád Group countries in the Czech town of Znojmo.

He emphasized that Ukraine’s withdrawal of the complaint would contribute to further negotiations, and Poland is committed to continued dialogue with Ukraine.

Other partners in the Visegrád Group have also called for the complaint to be withdrawn, and the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture, Mykola Solskyi, heard these appeals during the online meeting.

“When I asked whether Ukraine would withdraw the complaint, there was no answer. The minister said it’s not a key issue, but it is a key issue for us. It’s very important. This would create a good climate, and we would avoid months of litigation,” Bartosik said.

Bartosik noted that the embargo is supported by the fact that “transit volumes are increasing every day, every week, every month. Therefore, it is unclear to Poland why the European Union did not extend its restriction.”

The most important conclusion of the meeting, added the Polish deputy minister, is that grain from Ukraine should go where it is expected, without creating problems in the markets of neighboring countries and negatively impacting agriculture in these regions.

The host of the meeting, Czech Minister of Agriculture Marek Vyborny, summed up the negotiations by stating that the Visegrád Group countries have called on the European Commission to monitor the solidarity corridors through which Ukrainian grain should be transported to third countries.