Warsaw and Kyiv announced on Tuesday they had agreed to fasten the transit of Ukrainian grain exports through Poland to third countries, a first step towards resolving their "grain war."
It is the first breakthrough since the start of a diplomatic spat between the two allies that was triggered when Poland slapped a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain.
The populist government in Warsaw, which faces a general election on Oct. 15, said the embargo was designed to protect local farmers against a collapse in cereal prices.
Ukrainian exports transiting Poland en route to world markets – in Africa and the Middle East in particular – remain authorized.
Under Tuesday's agreement involving Lithuania, some Ukrainian grain destined for world markets will transit directly through Poland without undergoing quality checks at the Polish border.
"We have agreed on an important question," Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told journalists after an online meeting with ministers from Ukraine and Lithuania.
"From tomorrow, grains that transit (to world markets) via Lithuania will undergo checks at a Lithuanian port and not at the Poland-Ukraine border."
The Ukrainian agriculture ministry said the deal would "speed up transit through Poland."
Ukraine and Lithuania "support this control mechanism and consider it to be a constructive step," it said.
After Russia blocked Ukraine's Black Sea ports – the main route for its exports – the European Union lifted customs duties on Ukrainian grains in May 2022 so the commodities could transit to world markets by land via the bloc.
But because of logistical problems, the grain began piling up in EU states neighboring Ukraine, driving down local prices.
The EU allowed several countries to impose a temporary embargo on Ukrainian cereals while transit routes remained open.
Brussels ended those restrictions in mid-September and Kyiv pledged to better control its flow of exports.
But Poland, Hungary and Slovakia unilaterally extended the ban, prompting Kyiv to file a lawsuit against them at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Negotiations on allowing Ukrainian grain to enter the Polish domestic market have started, but are progressing slowly.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sept. 28 that the grain war was detrimental to both countries.
Ukraine, a major global grain producer and exporter, usually relies heavily on its deep Black Sea ports for exports. But its ability to get its goods to the world has been severely dented by 19 months of war and Moscow's decision to quit a U.N. and Türkiye-brokered deal on safe Black Sea exports in mid-July.
"We have conveyed clear signals to Poland about our commitment to a constructive solution," Kuleba told Interfax-Ukraine.
"We don't need this grain war and neither does Poland."
Poland and other eastern European countries are not usually big markets for Ukrainian grain shipments. However, supplies to these countries have grown significantly since the wartime blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports deprived Kyiv of traditional markets in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Warsaw has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since Russia invaded in February 2022 and is one of Kyiv's leading arms suppliers.