Agriculture minister confirms Poland reached deal on transit of Ukrainian grain

"We were forced to close the border because the EU had its eyes closed on large amounts of grain flowing into Poland, but at the same time we continued talks with Ukraine on how to enable transits, but with a guarantee grains would not be stuck in Poland, and we managed to find a solution," Telus told a news conference in Warsaw.

"We managed to create such mechanisms that will ensure that not a single ton of grain will remain in Poland," Telus told journalists after two days of talks in Warsaw.

Poland's Development Minister Waldemar Buda added a ban on imports of Ukrainian food products to Poland would remain in place and that the new deal would go into force at midnight on Friday.

European Union member states Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have imposed import bans to protect their markets from an influx of cheaper supply following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Warsaw banned their transit through Poland at the weekend.

Farmers say cheap imports from Ukraine, which has faced difficulties exporting by sea due to Russia's invasion, have lowered prices and reduced their sales.

In Poland, the issue has created a problem in an election year for the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party that relies on rural areas for much of its support.

Ukraine had said its priority was to reopen transit through Poland. Failure to resume exports into eastern European countries or secure an extension of the Black Sea grain deal would trap large amounts of grain in Ukraine, hitting its exports and causing further economic problems for Kyiv as it battles Russian troops.

Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Tuesday she was confident that Ukrainian exporters would respect the terms of a grain transit deal agreed with Poland.

Svyrydenko told a joint news conference with her Polish counterparts in Warsaw that the Ukrainian government understood the concerns of Polish and Ukrainian farmers and were committed to resolving the issue.

The deputy PM also said that the Black Sea grain deal faced the threat of being halted.

"It is under threat of being halted and Russia has again blocked the inspection of ships," Svyrydenko told a news conference in Warsaw.

"It is extremely important for us to unblock transit, otherwise Ukraine will remain blocked. We cannot together with our partners give Russia the opportunity to take advantage of this situation," she said.

It was not immediately clear how the other countries that have imposed import bans on Ukraine would react after the agreement in Warsaw, with Romania looking likely earlier on Tuesday to impose a similar ban.

Large quantities of Ukrainian grain have been trapped by bottlenecks in eastern and central Europe as low global prices and demand mean grain cannot easily be sold on.

The bottlenecks have reduced prices and hurt sales by local farmers, putting political pressure on governments in the region, particularly the Polish government before an election.

The EU has criticised member states for putting individual bans in place, and EU envoys are set to discuss the measures on Wednesday, a senior EU official said.

Bulgaria has also been considering a ban. The Czech Republic has said it will not impose a ban on its own but wants an EU solution.