Ukraine wants grain truck checks moved inside EU to avoid Russian drones

Ukraine is in talks with EU member states Poland and Slovakia about moving customs checks on lorries carrying grain exports from the border to inside those countries, to halt Russian drone attacks on the trucks, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said Kiev had set up joint border control points with Moldova and wanted to "scale up" the initiative with other neighbours, including Poland, the FT reported.

Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told the FT the move was driven by a "new security environment where Russia is deliberately trying to strike our borders" and that Kiev wanted to finalise an agreement with Poland as soon as possible.

The European Commission said that, in August 2026, around 90 percent of Ukraine’s grain, oilseed and related-product exports moved through the EU’s Solidarity Lanes, which use road, rail and inland waterways to maintain trade flows.

The EU launched its Solidarity Lanes initiative in May 2022 to help Ukraine maintain exports and imports after the Russia-Ukraine war disrupted traditional trade routes.

Poland and Slovakia have imposed restrictions on imports of Ukrainian grain while maintaining certain transit arrangements, underlining the distinction between allowing Ukrainian produce to cross their territories and permitting it to enter their domestic markets.

On October 17, Reuters reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary to allow Ukrainian grain cargoes to transit their territories amid disruption to Black Sea exports.

Ukraine is among the ⁠world's top producers of wheat, corn and sunflower seeds and around 90 percent of ​its exports of such crops go through the Black Sea, where ​attacks have almost halted agricultural exports from its Black Sea ports.

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Source: TRT