President Vladimir Putin is proposing to renew cooperation with Europe, which is to be welcomed because Russia is an important country. I believe, however, that in taking this step we should remember the history. We understand the pain of the former members of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, President Putin should equally understand the pain of those nations that suffered great injustices from the Soviet Union.

In 2019, we celebrated the 550th anniversary of the Union of Lublin that established the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included the territories of today’s Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and even Latvia. In reference to those events, which bound Poland to those lands for the next two hundred years, the establishment of the Lublin Triangle took place in July 2020.

More than five years after its adoption, Ukraine’s wood export moratorium was found incompatible with the Association Agreement (AA) and not justified under the GATT 1994. Ukraine’s arguments were weak to prove that conservation of forests was the moratorium’s primary goal.

Ukrainian exporting and importing businesses have recently got the much-awaited opportunity to register as Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs). This status will make them trusted companies in the country’s Customs Office’s eyes and considerably facilitate their cross-border trade.