(ANSA-AFP) - BRATISLAVA, SEP 21 - Slovakia and Ukraine have struck a deal on a new grain trading system that should see Slovakia's current import ban lifted by the end of the year, Slovakia said Thursday. "Until this system is launched and its full functionality is tested, the ban on the import of four commodities from Ukraine... is still valid until the end of 2023," the Slovak agriculture ministry said in a statement. The spokesman said that during a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solskyi on Wednesday, Slovakian minister Jozef Bires asked "that Ukraine cease all legal actions against Slovakia, which it had announced, as well as the declarations on the cessation of trade in agricultural products from Slovakia to Ukraine. "Minister Solskyi promised yesterday to put an end to these actions," the spokesman said. Slovakia, along with Poland and Hungary, has extended its embargo on Ukrainian grain despite the EU's decision to lift the restrictions. (ANSA-AFP).