Talks to move checks inside the EU

Ukraine is negotiating with Poland and Slovakia to move customs controls on trucks carrying grain for export from the border into those countries' territory, according to the Financial Times, whose report appeared on Friday, 23 October. The aim is to have the trucks checked on EU soil rather than at the Ukrainian frontier, where they face the risk of Russian drone strikes. Ukraine's foreign ministry said Kyiv has already set up joint border control points with Moldova and wants to extend that model to other neighbours, including Poland. Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesman for the ministry, said the initiative responds to a new security environment in which Russia is deliberately trying to hit Ukraine's borders. He added that Kyiv wants to finalise its agreement with Warsaw as soon as possible.

Drone attacks and a blocked sea route

Since August 2026, Ukraine has faced repeated attacks on border crossings with Romania, Moldova and Poland, and the escalation has caused heavy congestion in road transport. Ukraine's customs service said on Wednesday, 21 October, that more than 1,200 trucks were waiting to enter Ukraine at a single crossing in the Volyn region.

According to people familiar with the matter cited by the FT, Ukraine has been forced to send a larger share of its farm exports by land, river and rail through EU territory after drone attacks nearly fully blocked the traditional Black Sea route. Taras Wysocki, Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister, said drone strikes on the largest Ukrainian seaports and on ships in the region cut agricultural exports by about half. Trucks queuing near the border with EU countries have also been hit repeatedly by drones, the FT reported.

Moldova model and EU support

Ukraine's plan builds on the joint control points it already set up with Moldova, which the foreign ministry wants to extend to other neighbours. The European Commission said it supports Moldova in moving all customs checks to Moldova's side of the border, a parallel to the arrangement under discussion with Poland and Slovakia. The aim, as the FT describes it, is to limit the risk of attacks on the large truck queues forming at Ukraine's border. No source gives a date for signing an agreement with Poland, nor specifies where the inland checkpoints would be located.