Negotiations on a new trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine are being prepared – Polish minister

Warsaw is pleased with the resumption of quotas for agricultural imports from Ukraine to the EU from June 6, 2025. Negotiations between the European Union and Ukraine on a new trade agreement are beginning; their progress will depend on the situation on the front.

This was stated on Monday in Brussels by Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Czesław Siekierski, before a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers on Agriculture and Fisheries.

“We are now returning to the trade envisaged by the Association Agreement. These volumes are very beneficial for us, since the quotas (for agricultural imports from Ukraine – ed.) are very low,” Siekierski said.

According to the Polish minister, the EU’s trade with Ukraine must “maintain a balance,” and Ukraine must begin to produce agricultural products according to European standards.

“Polish farmers and Polish consumers also support the fact that these goods should correspond in quality to the goods we produce in Europe,” Siekierski stressed.

The Polish minister added that this would lead to “an increase in prices for Ukrainian goods” in the EU.

“If they do not use all the means prohibited in the European Union, and they are using them now, then production costs will also increase,” Siekierski stated.

The minister also reported that the preparatory phase for negotiations on a new trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine, which will be led by the European Commission, is underway. He added that their progress will also depend on the situation on the front.

“It should be taken into account that, depending on the military situation, the discussion on the degree of openness and liberalization of the European market for Ukrainian goods may have a different nature,” the Polish minister noted.

As previously reported, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval, during a series of high-level meetings in Brussels, stated that although the European Commission has approved transitional measures that will come into force on June 6, Ukraine and the EU have the political will to agree on balanced trade conditions by the end of July.

Tags: Ukraine, EU