Ukraine files WTO case against Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over their unilateral grain bans

"It is fundamentally important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban the import of Ukrainian goods. That is why we are filing lawsuits against them," said Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's first deputy prime minister, in a statement.

"At the same time, we hope that these countries will lift their restrictions and we will not have to settle the matter in court for a long time. We need solidarity with them and the protection of farmers' interests."

Svyrydenko said Ukrainian traders were already suffering from additional transport costs and difficulties in fulfilling foreign contracts. "Unilateral actions of EU member states in the field of trade are unacceptable," the statement added.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday evening before the World Trade Organization (WTO), is meant to launch "consultations" with the three Eastern countries, the minister said.

The news comes three days after the European Commission struck a deal with Kyiv and lifted the temporary restrictions it had imposed on Ukrainian cereals.

The prohibitions were first enacted on 2 May and applied to five European Union member states located in Ukraine's periphery: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. The countries had said the unexpected surge in tariff-free, low-cost grain from Ukraine was depressing prices for local farmers and wreaking economic havoc.

Under the restrictions, four Ukrainian agricultural products – wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed – were allowed transit through the five Eastern counts but could not stay inside their markets for domestic consumption or storage.

Kyiv repeatedly denounced the bans as contrary to the spirit of European solidarity shown towards the country since Russia launched the full-scale war. Several