Zelensky: Kiev should make every effort to initiate Ukraine's accession to the European Union and accession negotiations agreement | Russia | Negotiations | Initiation | EU | Reporting | Ski | Ukraine
According to Reuters on the 7th, Ukrainian President Zelensky is currently visiting various countries to promote Ukraine's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, in order to obtain more weapons from allies.
According to reports, on that day, Czech Prime Minister Peter Fiara held talks with visiting Zelensky in Prague. Zelensky stated at a press conference held after the talks that Kiev should make every effort to initiate Ukraine's accession negotiations to the European Union in 2023.
"Discussions were held on the interaction at the European and Euro-Atlantic institutional levels, involving the integration of Ukraine and the European Union. This year, we will make every effort to initiate negotiations on Ukraine's future membership in the European Union. The same goes for NATO," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba previously stated that Ukraine is moving towards integration with the European Union at the "fastest speed" and may initiate negotiations to join the EU before the end of 2023, unless force majeure occurs.
After Russia launched a special military operation in February 2022, Ukraine immediately initiated the process of applying to join the European Union and officially submitted its application on February 28, 2022. Moldova and Georgia also submitted applications to the European Union on March 3, 2022. On June 17, 2022, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine and Moldova EU candidate status.
According to Agence France Presse, later on the 7th local time, Zelensky will hold talks with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
According to reports, the talks between Zelensky and Erdogan will focus on an upcoming agreement that allows Ukraine to safely export grains from the Black Sea, as well as a NATO summit to be held in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius from July 11th to 12th.
Both Zerensky and Erdogan want to extend the Black Sea Food Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye and signed with Russia, which allows Ukraine to ship grain to the global market. If Russia refuses to agree to an extension, the agreement will expire on July 17th.
According to reports, analysts also predict that Zelensky is striving for Ukraine to join NATO, and he hopes that this summit can bring Ukraine an "invitation" to join.