BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – The European Commission suggested Wednesday a suspension for one year of all import duties on Ukrainian goods that are not included in an existing free trade agreement to support the country’s economic recovery during war with Russia.

This will affect fruit and vegetable products, with minimum price requirements. There may also be quotas for agricultural products and some industrial goods. The tariffs are due to disappear by the 2022 end.

The 2016 EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement sets out a phase-out that applies to cars, fertilisers and aluminium products.

Also, the European Union will exempt Ukraine of safeguard measures to limit steel imports and remove anti-dumping duties currently imposed by EU on Ukrainian steel tubes and hot-rolled flat products.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Ukraine, stated that he discussed the idea with President Ursula von der Leyen from European Commission on Wednesday. He expressed gratitude.

Right now, this will allow us maintain economic activity and national production in Ukraine as much as we can. He said that this decision must be taken in the Ukrainian context as well.

Exporting enough of our products to European markets and the global market will help us avoid crises.

To enter into force, the proposal must be approved by both the European Parliament (and EU government)

The European Commission oversees EU trade policies and was able to confirm that the unusual measures are intended to relieve the problems faced by Ukrainian exporters as a result of Russia’s invasion.

“Since the start of Russia’s aggression, the EU has prioritised the importance of keeping Ukraine’s economy going – which is crucial both to help it win this war and to get back on its feet post-war,” Commission Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said.

The bilateral EU-Ukraine trade volume was over 52 billion euro ($55 billion) last year. This is twice the level it had been before 2016’s free trade agreement.

The Russian Navy has cut Ukrainian shipping through the Black Sea to Russia, so the EU is also helping land transportation of Ukrainian goods. This includes easing entry requirements for Ukrainian truck drivers.

($1 = 0.9481 euro)