Work on opening five EU negotiation clusters continues – Zelensky
On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with European Council President Antonio Costa.
Zelensky reported this on Wednesday, July 8.
What did Zelensky and Costa discuss?
Volodymyr Zelensky noted that during the meeting with Costa, the sides discussed work on opening the remaining five negotiation clusters concerning Ukraine's accession to the European Union. According to the Ukrainian president, it is now important to move forward as quickly as possible in this direction.
"I am grateful to Antonio for supporting Ukraine on its path to EU accession. We discussed the potential timeline for the next steps. Ukraine and our people fully deserve this," the head of state wrote.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine is fulfilling all its commitments on the path to EU membership and expects clear signals of support from the EU.
Antonio Costa also commented on the meeting. He stated that Ukraine's EU accession process is moving forward and assured that Europe stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. According to the European Council president, the opening of a new negotiation cluster should take place in the near future.
"The global momentum for achieving peace through peaceful means is gaining pace: financial, energy, and military support for Ukraine is increasing, while pressure on Russia is intensifying to engage in substantive peace negotiations. The escalation of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure is proof that it has not achieved its goals on the battlefield," Costa concluded.
Recall that earlier European Commission spokesman Guillaume Mercier stated that Ukraine and Moldova are ready for the opening of all five unopened clusters in the EU accession negotiation process. The European Commission called on EU member states to make a decision on their opening.
