Keep calm and don’t be Trump: Ukraine plays it cool on EU trade

BRUSSELS — As trade wars rage elsewhere, Kyiv is looking to keep things calm and technical in Brussels.

Ukraine is looking to wrap a narrow, pragmatic trade deal with the European Union before wartime tariff waivers expire in June — and avoid turning a technical fix into a political firestorm.

The country's top trade negotiator Taras Kachka told POLITICO that Kyiv was ready to accept limited restrictions on sensitive agricultural products like sugar, poultry and eggs, as long as broader market access is preserved.

“We are not rewriting the whole deal — we’re talking about a few tariff lines,” Kachka said in an interview. “The challenge is to do this in a way that doesn’t become part of a campaign — but also doesn’t get delayed by one.”

The Autonomous Trade Measures (ATM), a wartime lifeline introduced after Russia’s 2022 invasion, lifted tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU.

The measures are due to lapse on June 5, and while the European Commission has not yet proposed a formal update to Ukraine’s 2014 trade deal, talks are intensifying against a backdrop of growing domestic tensions in several EU countries.

Farmers in Poland and Romania, which are both about to hold presidential elections, have previously protested against surging imports of Ukrainian grain, sugar and poultry. In Kyiv, officials fear a return to restrictive pre-war trade terms if no successor regime is agreed.

Still, Kachka insists there’s no reason to panic — just a tight timeline and a few trade tweaks. Brussels may move slowly, he added, but at least it doesn’t govern by social media messages written in all caps — as U.S. President Donald Trump has conducted his roller-coaster trade war on the world since hitting all comers with tariffs on April 2.

“It’s not like in the U.S., where Trump just signs something and boom — the policy changes,” he said.

“But the EU has its own way of moving fast when needed.”

Partial rollback, not panic

Kachka was in Brussels with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who met with EU leaders including the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos during the 10th EU-Ukraine Association Council. The mood, Kachka said, was far more constructive than some media coverage suggested.

“There’s lots of noise in the media and some capitals,” he said. “But inside, both sides are pragmatic and constructive.”

Kyiv is proposing a partial liberalization model that would maintain open access for the vast majority of exports, while reintroducing quotas on a few politically sensitive agricultural products that have surged into EU markets since 2022.

Sugar is among the standouts. Ukrainian exports jumped from 7,000 tons pre-war to over 500,000 tons in 2023. But Kachka insists Kyiv isn’t asking for unfettered access.

“We are not requesting anything major on sugar or poultry,” he said. “We are prepared for partial liberalization on these products — the question is just about volumes.”

Elections in the mix

While a follow-up deal is taking shape, political sensitivities in several EU countries are slowing progress — and raising the risk that trade preferences lapse without a fallback.

Poland’s presidential runoff falls on June 1, days before ATMs expire. In both Poland and Romania, some candidates have portrayed Ukrainian agriculture as a threat to local farmers.

What should be technical talks on quotas have become politically charged, and Kyiv wants to avoid a messaging misfire. Even modest changes, Kachka warned, could spook exporters or be seized on by Russian propaganda.

“There are people in the propaganda universe ready to scream that free trade is over, that the EU is turning away from Ukraine,” Kachka said. “We don’t need to hand them that headline.”

Kyiv is also pushing for flexibility to protect small and mid-sized exporters, particularly in niche sectors like fruits and vegetables. “Some of these companies are exporting a few thousand tons,” Kachka said. “They don’t show up in trade stats, but they’ll be hit hard if the regime changes overnight.”

A fallback option to extend the ATMs until the end of the year is still being floated by Kyiv as a way to ensure smaller exporters aren’t left behind. But Kachka emphasized this is not the preference, while EU officials have previously ruled out an extension.

Eyes on the endgame

More broadly, Kyiv is asking the EU to rethink its relationship with Ukraine. Total trade topped €50 billion last year, with the EU running a €10 billion surplus.

“We import machinery, agri inputs, chemicals. Even when we export poultry to the Gulf, we rely on German and Polish hatchery inputs,” Kachka said. “This is a two-way market.”

In the long run, Ukraine wants to move from emergency trade access to institutional alignment. “This isn’t about charity,” Kachka said. “We’ve passed the screenings. We’ve adopted the rules. We’re ready to be part of the EU’s single market.”

That ambition was echoed by EU foreign policy chief Kallas, who said on Tuesday: “There are no shortcuts on the path of Ukrainian membership in the European Union. But Ukraine, even in the middle of the war, has shown time and time again its dedication to the European path … Your future is in the European Union.”

For Kyiv, that means seeing EU-Ukraine trade as internal policy — not external bargaining. “These discussions should be part of the Common Agricultural Policy, not treated like talks with third countries,” Kachka said, referring to the EU's farm policy.

“Because we’re not the United Arab Emirates. We’re on the inside track.”