The leaders of the European Union could discuss the possibility of Ukraine join the bloc at an informal summit in March, a senior EU official said on Monday, adding that the issue was important for Ukraine in negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict.
“I think one of the reasons this is important for President Zelensky is that he could potentially be in some of the discussions with Russia about an exit,” the official said, referring to talks to end the conflict. But he warned that no process has yet been started.
“Regarding (Ukraine’s) application to join the EU, I think it is important not to jump ahead of the facts,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. “Obviously it hasn’t been received yet, but this whole issue of the situation in Ukraine is something that is very much on the minds of the leaders.”
EU leaders President Charles Michel and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will meet in Paris on Monday night with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to hold conversations.
“So I’m sure this will come up in those discussions. And of course we have imminently, on March 10 and 11, an informal meeting of the European Council and I imagine that the issue of Ukraine, which is occupying the mind of many leaders, it will come up at some point in those discussions,” the official said.
Ukraine has an association agreement with the 27-nation bloc but wants to become a full member, something the Kremlin opposes. Ukraine’s accession has not been discussed so far so as not to antagonize Moscow, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed things, the official said.
“This unprecedented Russian aggression that we are seeing against Ukraine, the strong condemnation that we have seen from the EU, the outrage in the European Union, member states, public opinion…I think it is also likely to be a factor that determines how we respond (to a membership request),” the official said.
“If you go to the origins of part of this confrontation, there were a large number of people who were willing to give their lives for a European perspective that was at the heart of the Maidan demonstrations (in Kiev in 2013-14),” the official said.
“I think that in any agreement that President Zelensky can reach with President Putin, seek guarantees, or get a guarantee if you like, that there is support, an understanding for Ukraine to one day belong to the European Union, it is likely to be very important for the Ukrainian people,” he said.
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Monday expressed “full support” for a faster EU accession procedure for Ukraine, while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said a clear signal needed to be given that Ukraine was welcome, the CTK news agency was quoted as saying on Monday.
Source: Ambito
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