European Commission chief names deadline for starting talks on Ukraine's accession to EU

The first stage of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union (EU) may start in 2025. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said this at a press conference following the EU summit in Brussels on December 19.

"We continue to accompany Ukraine on its EU accession path. If Ukraine continues, we will be ready to open the first phase of EU accession negotiations at the beginning of 2025," she said.

Von der Leyen also pointed out that European countries have already provided Ukraine with almost €130 billion, which covers most of Ukraine's financing gap for next year.

Blocks of discord: the OSCE will start preparing Kyiv for EU and NATO accession

The appointment of a Czech diplomat to the post of Special Representative of the Chairmanship took place without Russia's consent

Earlier, on December 12, Alexei Martynov, a political scientist and associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, told Izvestia that the idea of Ukraine joining the European Union (EU) and NATO is futile, and the West understands this. At the same time, Kiev's trustees continue to promote this rhetorical question in order to force the topic of supporting Ukraine.

In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized that Maresh, by announcing plans to prepare Kiev for EU and NATO membership, intends to deepen the split in Europe.

In addition, as the first deputy chairman of the State Duma's international affairs committee, Aleksey Chepa, noted, any attempts to talk about Ukraine's accession to the European Union (EU) and NATO are a continuation of fueling the conflict. At the same time, the Russian side was not informed about this appointment. The decision was made by 55 out of 57 countries, bypassing Russia and Belarus.

On November 16, the Pentagon said corruption as a barrier to Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU. In addition, it is noted that Ukraine's recent attempt to merge two procurement state agencies was perceived negatively by Western partners.

In April, European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Johannes Hahn said that Ukraine will become a member of the EU not earlier than 2028, because for its admission to the association it is necessary to increase its budget by 20%, which is equivalent to the amount of €200 billion. At the same time, the commissioner believes that Kiev has a serious economic potential, so its accession to the EU would be a profitable investment.

Ukraine signed an application to join the EU in February 2022. On June 23 of the same year, the President of the European Council Charles Michel announced that Ukraine had been granted candidate status at the EU summit. In December 2023, during the EU summit in Brussels, the leaders of the member states decided to approve the start of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their accession to the association.