Ukrainian president says membership negotiations could begin this year as EU foreign ministers promise €5bn military aid package at surprise Kyiv summit
Kyiv has been told it is “absolutely possible” that EU membership talks could begin this year, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said after a surprise meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Ukrainian capital.
“Our key integration goal is to hammer out a decision this year to start membership negotiations,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. “And today I heard once again at the meetings and negotiations that this is absolutely possible.”
Our country is a leader in protecting the very foundations on which European unity rests. The unity of modern Europe, which values human freedom and equality of nations, values international law.
A Ukrainian victory in the war with Russia depends on cooperation with the EU, Zelenskiy told the ministers gathered in Kyiv. Zelenskiy, who was speaking after the US Congress left Ukraine war aid out of a spending bill, also underlined the importance of “defence support” for Ukraine during the war.
Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan is “the only game in town”, Borrell said at a press conference after the meeting. The summit of EU foreign ministers was “sending a strong missile to Russia that we are not intimidated by your missiles or your drones”, he added.
Borrell also dismissed the idea – floated by Roberta Metsola, the president of the European parliament, and academics recently – that Kyiv might join the EU in stages, with access to the single market first, followed by political integration. “Membership is membership,” Borrell said. There could be no talk of half, or 25% membership, he said, adding: “[It’s] the strongest security commitment we can give to Ukraine.”
The US Pentagon has warned Congress that it is running low on funding to replace weapons the US has sent to Ukraine and has already been forced to slow down resupplying some troops. The warning from the Pentagon comptroller came in a letter sent to congressional leaders and was obtained by the Associated Press. It urges Congress to replenish funding for Ukraine.
The White House has been in touch with allies and partners about continued funding for Ukraine and those conversations will continue, the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday. Congress passed a stopgap bill on Saturday that extended government funding for more than a month and avoided a government shutdown but did not contain any new aid for Ukraine.
Ukraine accused Elon Musk of encouraging Russian propaganda after the billionaire owner of X, posted a meme of Zelenskiy with the caption, “When it’s been five minutes and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid.” “Any silence or irony towards Ukraine today is a direct encouragement of Russian propaganda that justifies mass violence and destruction,” presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak answered on the same platform.
The Kremlin said it believed that fatigue with the Ukraine war would grow in the US and Europe, but that Washington would continue to be directly involved in the conflict. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, was commenting on athe US Congress decision to pass a stopgap funding bill that omitted aid for Kyiv.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on Monday panned US military spending on Ukraine as “irrational”, stepping up criticism of the war effort as he urged Washington to devote more resources to helping Latin American countries. “So they do have to modify their strategy and learn respect. It’s not the time for them to ignore Mexican authorities,” Lopez Obrador said.
