Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission, surprise visit to Kyiv, said that she would respond "next week” to Ukraine's desire to apply for EU membership.
Ursula von der Leyen stated that Ukraine wants to support it on its European journey. She spoke briefly after her talks with Volodymyr Zelensky. Fighting continues in the east, with Russian soldiers who invaded Ukraine on February 24.
"Today's talks will allow us to complete our assessment by next week," she said, noting that while the Ukrainian authorities had "done a lot", they still have "still a lot of work to do", particularly in fighting corruption.
For this second visit to Kiev, Denys Chmygal, Ukrainian Prime Minister, is yet to meet the head of the European Commission. It will be her second since the outbreak of war.
She said that she was back in Kyiv and would take stock of the work required for reconstruction as well as Ukraine's progress towards Europe. He was accompanied by journalists including AFP.
Ukraine demands a "legal commitment" from the Europeans by June 31st to be granted official candidate status in the EU. However, the 27 remaining EU members remain divided on this question.
Many countries, mostly in Eastern Europe, support Ukraine joining the EU. However, others, such as the Netherlands or Denmark, and Germany and France which occupied the EU's presidency until June, are more reserved.
Even if Ukraine is granted "candidate status", there will be a series of negotiations and possible reforms that could take many years before the country is ready to join the EU. . Several EU countries have also stifled kyiv’s hopes for an "accelerated” process.
Ursula von der Leyen, during her April 8th visit, assured Ukraine of a "European Future".
