A tractor collects straw on a field in a private farm in Zhurivka, Kiev region, Ukraine on Aug 10, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

KIEV - Ukraine on Saturday denounced the plans of five EU countries to extend Ukrainian grain import ban, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.

Those countries, including Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, have sought to extend the import ban on Ukrainian grain, so as to protect their own agricultural sector.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also called on the EU and those countries involved to find a balanced decision on the issue

"We consider it completely unacceptable to continue trade restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine, after the ban of the European Commission expires on Sept 15," the ministry said.

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It also called on the EU and those countries involved to find a balanced decision on the issue.

In May, the European Commission imposed a ban on grain exports from Ukraine to the five European countries. 

Meanwhile, three pilots were killed after two L-39 military trainer jets collided in the sky over Ukraine's northern Zhytomyr region, the country's Air Force said Saturday in a statement on Telegram.

The crash took place on Friday, when two aircraft were performing a combat task, the statement said.

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The regional prosecutor's office launched criminal proceedings into the crash on charges of violation of flight rules, said the Prosecutor General's Office.

An investigation into the collision is underway.