The European Union is going to provide financial compensation to farmers in five countries bordering Ukraine, and plans to introduce restrictions on imports of Ukrainian grains.

Pressure has mounted on Brussels to work out a European Union-wide solution after Poland and Hungary banned some imports from Ukraine last weekend and other eastern European countries said they were considering similar action.

The countries became transit routes for Ukrainian grain that could not be exported through Ukraine’s Black Sea ports because of Russia’s invasion in February of 2022.

Bottlenecks then trapped millions of tons of grains in countries bordering Ukraine, forcing local farmers to compete with an influx of cheap Ukrainian imports which they said distorted prices and demand.