On February 3, a summit was held in Kyiv, the purpose of which was not loud statements, but the synchronization of the clocks of Ukraine and the European Union. Of course, Ukraine had 3 main requests for the day, which were discussed with Charles Michel, Ursula von der Leyen and Joseph Borel.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that this summit was "a symbol that we will overcome any obstacles to strengthen our partnership and integration."
"Our goal is absolutely clear - to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union. And I believe that the EU will be ready for negotiations on Ukraine's accession as early as this year."
The President noted that already in the spring Ukraine will be ready to demonstrate the primary results of its "homework" - the implementation of reforms in 7 areas, including the appointment of the head of the NABU, the completion of the formation of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges, reform of the constitutional court.
In turn, the European Union noted that Ukraine's membership in the EU is irreversible, and the alliance will support Ukraine until the very victory.
What was Ukraine talking about? Firstly, the MEPs approved the map of Ukraine for 2023-24 on Ukraine's access to the EU markets.
"Its implementation will make Ukraine a de facto member of the European Union at the level of economic sectors - industry, agriculture, energy, digital services, transport, finance, customs," Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Another victory - EU representatives supported Zelenskyy's peace formula and "officially recorded in the joint statement approved at the end of this summit the EU's support for the Ukrainian peace formula."
The Ukraine-EU summit has become a symbol of support for the European Union, regardless of threats and blackmail from Russia. Moreover, in honor of the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine, on February 24, the European Union will introduce the 10th package of sanctions against the Kremlin meat grinder, which will cost the aggressor country 10 billion euros.
Zelensky stressed that Russia does not stop looking for ways to circumvent sanctions, so measures to prevent such loopholes were discussed separately. This work is expected to stop the traffic of spare parts and weapons to Russia.
Ukraine stressed the importance of obtaining a timeline for the start of negotiations on the country's accession to the EU. In turn, EU representatives said that there is no such schedule, and it all depends on how Ukraine will fulfill the conditions in 7 areas.
An important topic was the threat of a new Russian attack on Ukraine from Belarus. Zelenskyy focused the attention of those present on the urgent need for additional weapons that will help Ukrainians survive and win in the long run. The president was specific, and the EU representatives were quite diplomatic in terms. It's not bad, because a lot of big questions are solved off camera.
According to a BBC correspondent who attended the summit, the European Union is led by people who are ready for difficult decisions. They reminded Ukraine that they are not only ready to support our country to the end, but also expect concrete results from it.
