The first item on the agenda at the meeting of the European Council is Ukraine

At the regular meeting of the European Council, which will be held on March 21-22 in Brussels, the issues concerning Ukraine will first of all be considered: the amount of military aid, the start of negotiations on joining the EU, the extension of the free trade agreement with the EU, and the use of revenues from frozen Russian assets for aid to Ukraine, as well as ways to unblock the transit of products through Poland.

According to Politico, an interim agreement to extend trade liberalization measures with Ukraine for another year was supposed to be approved on Wednesday, but several countries refused to sign on, demanding more time to assess its impact. Although it was previously reported that a preliminary agreement had been reached between the participants in the negotiations of the European Parliament and the Chairman of the Council of the EU on the extension of the regime of suspension of quotas and customs duties for the supply of products from Ukraine to the EU until June 5, 2025.

The European Union decided to strengthen measures to protect sensitive agricultural products, included in the current regulation on trade liberalization, in order to exclude any negative impact on the market not only of the EU as a whole, but also on the markets of individual EU member states.

The President of Ukraine V. Zelenskyi spoke at the meeting of the European Council yesterday and called for support for Ukraine.

"Ukraine cannot come to terms with the fact that the Russian Federation continues its terror with pressure on trade issues, and I am grateful to everyone in Europe who considers such pressure unacceptable. Now trade issues, in particular the continuation of the liberalization regime, decide Ukraine's ability to resist the aggressor, since losses in trade are losses of a resource that stops the enemy. Our grains are needed by the south of Europe, in particular Spain and Italy, and our sugar by Romania. The same facts can be given for other goods. We did and are doing everything to resume the export of products through the ports of Odesa, the Danube and Romania. Ukraine ensures the food security of the countries of North Africa and Asia, which also benefits Europe, as our economic capabilities stabilize the parts of the world neighboring the EU. However, unfortunately, we still see unlimited supplies of grain from the Russian Federation and Belarus to the European market, while Ukrainian grain is poured out of wagons and cars. It's not fair. As well as attempts to break systemic trade solutions that have been working for more than a year, and in the interests of the whole of Europe. Attempts at trade separatism within the EU weaken the entire continent," said V. Zelenskyi.