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Poland and Ukraine leaders discuss regulating Ukrainian food imports to ease farmer discontent

Last Updated Mar 28, 2024 at 4:27 am MDT

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, center, and his Polish counterpart, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, center right, review troops during a welcoming ceremony ahead of their talks in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was in Poland on Thursday for talks with his counterpart Donald Tusk to address Polish and western European farmers’ demands that regulations be applied to the cheap Ukrainian food imports that they say are undercutting their livelihoods.

Farmers in many countries have been staging vehement protests against the imports and tensions have grown between Kyiv and its staunch ally Warsaw over the tax-free inflow of Ukraine’s farm produce.

Tusk has suggested that Poland, a NATO member and European Union country bordering Ukraine, will seek quotas on the imports during the talks. He has also suggested boosting imports to needy countries.

The EU has opened its doors wide to Ukrainian farm produce to help the country’s exports after Russia’s 2022 invasion cut many traditional routes.

However, EU lawmakers recently agreed that quotas could be reintroduced on some Ukrainian foods to address the European farmers’ complaints.

The Associated Press