France has joined Poland in calling for further restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, threatening to derail the upcoming negotiations on extending Kyiv’s free-trade access to the EU, Politico reports, citing three anonymous European diplomats.
Politico wrote earlier that on March 19, negotiations should take place between the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament, trying to find a compromise on the import of Ukrainian goods.
As the newspaper’s sources say, this would cost Ukraine €1.2 billion in trade revenue, according to European Commission estimates. One of the diplomats said that “the member states that are making the biggest show of their support to Ukraine are also the ones doing the most damage to the country.”
Earlier, the members of the European Parliament failed to reach an agreement on the European Commission proposal to extend duty-free imports from Ukraine to the EU until June 5, 2025.
