While the Commission has said that unilateral moves will not be tolerated, it has not yet specified what measures it would take against Poland and Hungary.
“In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU,” its spokesperson said in a statement.
Most Ukrainian grain is exported via the Black Sea, but Russia’s invasion in 2022 disrupted export routes and resulted in large quantities of the grain ending up in central Europe.
A deal with Russia, brokered by the UN and Turkey, allows Ukraine to continue exporting by sea – but Ukraine accuses Russia of slowing the process with over-zealous inspections.
Poland and Hungary announced the move on April 15. The decision came after complaints from local farmers who said they were being undercut by cheaper Ukrainian grain flooding their markets.
On April 16, Polish Economic Development and Technology Minister Waldemar Buda clarified that the ban applied to goods in transit as well as those staying in Poland.
The minister called for talks with Ukraine to set up a scheme to ensure exports pass through Poland and do not end up on the local market.
Ukraine says the move contradicts bilateral trade agreements.
A statement by Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry said it had “always been sympathetic to the situation in the Polish agricultural sector and responded promptly to various challenges”.
“At present, unilateral drastic actions will not accelerate the positive resolution of the situation,” it added.
Ministers from Poland and Ukraine are due to meet to discuss the issue in Poland on April 17.
A Russian-owned superyacht was ordered to leave Fiji for the US after a court upheld a FBI warrant.
The vessel allegedly sailed to Fiji to escape seizure.
US police had for months been tracking the 350ft Amadea – linked to sanctioned oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
Agents had boarded the boat upon its arrival in Fiji in April, but the boat’s owner had launched a legal battle to stop the seizure.
They had argued the warrant contravened the Pacific island’s local law.
However on June 7, Fiji’s Supreme Court dismissed that argument and ordered the boat’s removal, pointing out the giant yacht’s docking in the port of Lautoka had cost the local government “dearly”.
US authorities in their submission had argued that the $300 million boat was estimated to cost about $25-30 million to keep running per year.
For the public benefit, it was better for the boat to be removed, Chief Justice Kamal Kumar said.
The judge found the vessel had sailed into Fiji waters “without any permit and most probably to evade prosecution by the United States”.
The defence team for the boat’s registered owners, Millemarin Investments, had argued the boat was not the property of Suleiman Kerimov’s and instead belonged to another Russian businessman, who is not facing sanctions.
However, US authorities allege that Suleiman Kerimov still has a beneficial connection to the boat.
The FBI alleged the boat had also tried to escape detection “almost immediately” after the war began by turning off its automated tracking system.
US authorities first sanctioned Suleiman Kerimov in 2018 over a slew of money-laundering charges. The Russian has been sanctioned by other nations since, including by the EU block after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On June 7, Fiji’s Director of Public Prosecutions said the court ruling demonstrated his nation’s commitment to external assistance requests and international law.
The court accepted the validity of the US warrant and agreed that issues concerning money laundering and ownership need to be decided in the court of original jurisdiction,” said Christopher Pryde.
Western authorities have stepped up a crackdown on the assets of dozens of Russian oligarchs in the wake of the Ukraine invasion in February.
Defiant residents in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol have gathered near the occupied district administration to protest against the alleged abduction of Mayor Ivan Fedorov by Russian forces.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, arguing it felt threatened by its neighbour’s intent on joining Western-led organisations such as the NATO military alliance.
In his message on March 11, President Zelensky called Ivan Fedorov a “mayor who bravely defends Ukraine and the members of his community”.
“This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders,” the president said.
“They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities.”
Ivan Fedorov had said that his administration was not going toc o-operate with the Russians „in any way”.
The mayor said that invading forces had ransacked his offices, exiling his team to another location where they are attempting to continue running their city.
There have been protests in Melitopol every day since the Russian occupation.
On March 12, hundreds surrounded the administration building demanding the mayor’s release.
The European Union, United States and their allies have agreed to cut off a number of Russian banks from the main international payment system, SWIFT.
A German government spokesman said: “This is intended to cut off these institutions from international financial flows, which will massively restrict their global operations.”
Russia is heavily reliant on the Swift system for its oil and gas exports.
However, the move could also harm Western businesses doing business with Russia.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), is a secure messaging system that makes fast, cross-border payments possible, enabling international trade.
The banks set to be affected are “all those already sanctioned by the international community, as well as other institutions, if necessary”, the German spokesman said.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the allies would stop Russia from “using its war chest,” by paralysing the assets of its central bank. They also agreed to freezing its transactions and prevent the central bank from liquidating its assets.
She added there would be a crackdown on so-called “golden passports” that “let wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government become citizens of our countries and gain access to our financial systems”.
UK PM Boris Johnson said Britain had taken “decisive action”, tweeting: “We will keep working together to ensure Putin pays the price for his aggression.”
The measures were agreed by the US, UK, Europe and Canada.
It is the latest round of sanctions to hit Russia since it launched an invasion of Ukraine this week.
Removing banks from Swift is deemed to be a severe curb because almost all banks use the system.
More European countries have closed their airspace to Russian flights, as Moscow faces rising pressure over the invasion of Ukraine.
Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and Romania announced on February 26 they were banning some flights from Russia.
Russia earlier said it would close its airspace to flights from Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic after they issued a ban on Russian jets.
Meanwhile, Russian-owned planes can no longer enter UK airspace.
Estonian PM Kaja Kallas urged other EU countries to issue similar restrictions on Twitter, adding: “There is no place for planes of the aggressor state in democratic skies.”
Slovenian PM Janez Jansa quoted Kallas’s tweet saying that “Slovenia will do the same”.
Latvian Transport Minister Talis Linkaits also said on Twitter that “Latvia will close its airspace to Russian-registered airlines for commercial flights,” adding that the decision would be formally approved at the next cabinet meeting.
The restriction on Russian flights over large swathes of eastern Europe will require Russian airlines to take circuitous routes.
One Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Budapest on February 26 logged a flight time about 75 minutes longer than usual, according to the Flightradar24 tracking website, with a route avoiding Poland.
Commercial airlines are also avoiding airspace around Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus following Russia’s invasion. As the Kyiv airport is closed, many foreigners stuck in Ukraine cannot return home.
In the United States, Delta Air Lines said it would suspend a code-sharing agreement with Russia’s Aeroflot.
The UK’s ban on Russian flights, including Aeroflot planes and private jets, led Moscow to retaliate with a similar curb on British planes.
Virgin Atlantic said avoiding Russia would add between 15 minutes and an hour to its flights between the UK and India and Pakistan.
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