The European Union will strengthen trade restrictions against Ukraine

Additional restrictions on the import of Ukrainian products, which have become the subject of heated debates within the EU and are intended to appease angry farmers, will hit Ukraine’s income and “increase the chances of the conflict dragging on.” This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine, Mykola Solsky, in an interview with the Financial Times.

Warsaw and Paris are the loudest voices calling for stricter restrictions on the import of many types of Ukrainian products in exchange for extending the duty-free trade regime with Kiev. The preliminary agreement, signed last week, already envisaged a reduction in the import of Ukrainian products by over €400 million over the next year if Kiev cannot find alternative markets.

The Franco-Polish proposal would further reduce it by €800 million, as Ukrainian cereals would be included in the list of restrictions and quotas for poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, corn, cereals and honey would be lowered. If Rome supports Warsaw and Paris, other member states will have to agree to larger reductions to prevent the cessation of duty-free access in June, the newspaper reports.