Slovakia has joined Poland and Hungary by unilaterally halting imports of grain and other food products from Ukraine to protect its farmers in decisions criticised by Kyiv and the European Commission as unacceptable, writes The Guardian.

The EU would expect the central European states “to come up with some explanation”, a senior official said, after Poland and Hungary announced their bans over the weekend and Slovakia followed suit on Monday. Bulgaria has also said it is considering a ban. The official said low global prices and demand meant large quantities of Ukrainian grain in particular were staying in the bloc rather than being sold on, adding: “There is an issue … we’ll see what we can do in the coming weeks and months”.

Ukrainian grain should at least be allowed to transit through Poland, Ukraine’s agriculture minister, Mykola Solsky, said as urgent talks to resolve the dispute between the two countries began in Warsaw: “The first step … should be the opening of transit, because it is quite important and it is the thing that should be done unconditionally, and after that we will talk about other things. Ukrainian agricultural products shipped to and through Poland represented about 10% of the country’s total food exports – a vital sector of its war-ravaged economy – with Hungary accounting for a further 6%”.

The European Commission’s spokesperson for trade and agriculture said trade policy was an EU-exclusive competence and unilateral actions “are not acceptable. In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU”.

The Commission proposed emergency funding to farmers in central European member states last month to compensate for the excess of Ukrainian grain, but several have complained it is not enough and farmers have protested volubly.

An EU official said on Monday: “The European Commission has put money on the table but we see it is not matching the expectations of certain member states”.