Ukraine’s president says he expects progress on EU membership proposal within months

O president Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with the head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, this Friday (18) and that he expects progress in the country’s application for membership of the European Union (EU) in the coming months. .

“I had a substantial conversation with the president of the EC,” Zelensky reported on Twitter. “The EC opinion on Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union will be prepared within a few months. The Ukrainian government and the EC are instructed. Moving together towards our strategic objective.”

Had substantial conversation with EC President @vonderleyen.
EC opinion on UA ​​application for #I membership will be prepared within a few months.
UA Government and EC are instructed. Moving to our strategic goal together.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 18, 2022

The request to join the bloc was signed on February 28 by the Ukrainian president, during the fifth day of the war, requesting a special procedure so that the evaluation could be carried out quickly.

Von der Leyen has already said that he supports Ukraine’s entry into the EU, a country he considered “one of us”.

Ukraine, at least before the war, was interested in joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), one of the reasons that experts point to the Russian onslaught. Putin considers the bloc’s expansion a threat to security stability in Europe.

This week, Zelensky said he “does not expect Ukraine anytime soon” in NATO, which could be seen as a step back in Ukraine’s stance on negotiations with Russia. The latest talks have bumped into “fundamental differences,” according to one of the negotiators.

*with information from Reuters