Costa invites Zelenskyy to EU summit to discuss Ukraine's accession
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy and António Costa (Getty Images)
Ukraine has been invited to join the European Council summit next week. The parties also expect the opening of two negotiating clusters regarding the country's accession to the EU, states European Council President António Costa following a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to Costa, the leaders discussed Ukraine's progress on the path to European integration during the conversation.
He noted that the opening of two negotiating clusters is expected as early as next week, with the remaining clusters planned to be opened by the end of the year.
Furthermore, Costa personally invited the Ukrainian president to participate in the European Council (#EUCO) meeting.
"Good phone call with President @ZelenskyyUa . I invited him to join us in person for the discussion on Ukraine at next week’s EUCO. We discussed Ukraine’s progress towards EU accession," the European Council President reported.
Separately, the head of the European Council drew attention to the increase in aggression from Russia, specifically the shelling of civilian targets and hybrid attacks against EU countries.
According to him, this once again proves that Moscow is not interested in genuine peace negotiations.
"Russia’s intensified attacks on Ukraine, including against civilian targets, as well as its hybrid attacks against EU countries, demonstrate once again its lack of genuine interest in peace negotiations. The EU will continue to stand by Ukraine until a just and lasting peace is achieved. It is time for Russia to end its war," Costa emphasized.
Zelenskyy's reaction
The Ukrainian President thanked António Costa for his clear and principled position, the condemnation of hostile attacks, and the expressed condolences.
The head of state also expressed gratitude for the tranche of 1.2 billion euros that arrived the day before. These funds will be directed toward Ukrainian defense, specifically for the procurement and production of drones.
During the conversation, the parties discussed the schedule for opening the next negotiating clusters regarding Ukraine's accession to the EU, the energy support package for the winter period, and further financial assistance.
In the near future, a trilateral meeting will take place between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, António Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Furthermore, Volodymyr Zelenskyy provided an update on upcoming contacts with the US side.
According to him, the Ukrainian team is already en route to hold meetings in the coming days.
Brussels and Kyiv continue their systematic work on Ukraine's integration into the European Union.
In particular, the European Union is preparing indicative roadmaps for four candidate countries, among which a special model is being developed specifically for Ukraine.
Furthermore, the integration process continues to move forward - recently, Hungary lifted its veto on two negotiating clusters regarding Ukraine's accession to the EU.
