In Kyiv, EU chief promises a signal on Ukraine’s candidate status bid next week
- Making a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ursula von der Leyen said talks she held with Volodymyr Zelensky ‘will enable us to finalise our assessment by the end of next week’
- Zelensky has been pressing for rapid admission into the European Union as a way of reducing Ukraine’s geopolitical vulnerability
The European Commission will provide a clear signal next week on Ukraine’s EU candidate status bid, its chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday, as fighting raged in the east and south of the country.
Making a surprise visit to Kyiv, von der Leyen said talks she held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “will enable us to finalise our assessment by the end of next week” – the first time the bloc has publicly given a sense of timing.
Zelensky has been pressing for rapid admission into the European Union as a way of reducing Ukraine’s geopolitical vulnerability, which was brutally exposed by Russia’s February 24 invasion.
But officials and leaders in the bloc caution that, even with candidacy status, actual EU membership could take years or even decades.
Von der Leyen, appearing alongside Zelensky during her second visit to Kyiv since the war began, made no promises, noting further reforms were needed.
The Ukrainian president warned it was a “decisive time” for his country and the EU.
“Russia wants to ruin the European unity, wants to leave Europe divided and wants to leave it weak. The entire Europe is a target for Russia. Ukraine is only the first stage in this aggression,” he said.