The EU has been urged by five EU countries to take action on Russian grain imports, including potentially stolen Ukrainian grain, citing a “moral obligation”.
The agriculture ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states have called on the European Commission to introduce legislation limiting the import of grain from Russia and Belarus to the EU.
Last year, the EU imported 1.53 million tonnes of Russian grain, generating €437.5 million in income for Russia, which is believed to be funding the ongoing war against Ukraine.
Russia has also seized fertile grain-producing land in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The ministers stressed the importance of preventing potentially stolen Ukrainian grain from entering the EU market.
These discussions come ahead of an EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels to address Russian grain imports and other related issues.
Possible measures include including a ban in the 14th round of Russia sanctions or imposing tariffs on Russian and Belarusian grains to deter EU buyers.
The talks coincided with protests by farmers across Europe against EU climate-change policies and duty-free imports of Ukrainian food.
A provisional agreement was reached on tariffs for emergency cases on certain duty-free Ukrainian imports to alleviate tensions.
Five EU states have already imposed temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports, but the focus for the EU-5 is on targeting Russia to support European producers.
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The influx of Russian imports is seen as putting pressure on the EU internal market and directly competing with EU farmers’ production.
If sanctions on Russian food imports result in shortages, Ukrainian agricultural products are available as an alternative.
Russia has been accused of using food as a weapon, particularly through a naval blockade on Ukrainian grain exports to Africa, while blaming Western sanctions for shortages.
However, Ukraine managed to break the blockade and resumed maritime exports to various countries last August.
The EU-5 emphasized the need to support Ukraine in re-establishing its exports to countries that rely on them.
