‘Ukraine must join EU, and it will,’ says Zelenskyy

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine must join the EU and is taking all necessary steps toward accession, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday.

“Ukraine must join the EU, and it will,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Kyiv has fulfilled its obligations.

“We are doing everything required, and it is important that Ukraine’s accession is not delayed by the national politics of this or that country … What we must avoid is any dependence on Russia,” he noted.

Ukraine applied for EU membership shortly after the start of the war with Russia in February 2022. In December 2023, the European Council agreed to open negotiations on Ukraine’s accession.

In June 2024, the European Commission gave a positive assessment of reforms in Ukraine and Moldova, leading Brussels to approve a negotiation framework for accession talks.

However, Hungary and Slovakia have blocked the process, raising conditions such as halting strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies them with Russian energy.

Lithuania later proposed a separate negotiation plan that would bypass Budapest’s objections.