Explainer-How does central Europe's ban impact Ukrainian grain exports?

An employee checks the temperature of the corn in a farm, in Timar, Hungary, April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo

BUCHAREST/WARSAW (Reuters) - Ukraine has become entirely dependent on alternative European Union routes for its grain exports after Russia last month exited a year-long deal that had allowed them to be shipped safely via its Black Sea ports.

This has exacerbated Brussels' efforts to find a balance between helping Ukraine with the demand of five eastern EU member states to protect their own markets by extending a ban on domestic sales of Ukrainian grain till at least the end of 2023.