Cyprus’s presidency may become historic in opening clusters for Ukraine - Zelenskyy
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (Getty Images)
In the first half of 2026, Cyprus will hold the presidency of the EU Council. The Cypriot presidency may go down in history in terms of opening clusters for Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated this during a press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
This is the first visit of the President of Cyprus to Ukraine. Zelenskyy emphasized that during Cyprus’s presidency of the EU Council, it is crucial to make significant progress in the European Union's enlargement.
"We expect the coming months to bring more progress on Ukraine’s path to the EU. And the Cypriot presidency may become historic in terms of opening clusters for Ukraine and making other necessary decisions," Zelenskyy stressed.
He also thanked the President of Cyprus for political-level support, in particular for the negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership.
"We expect the European community to stand with Ukraine in the way that is necessary to achieve peace and ensure reliable security," the Ukrainian leader said.
In addition, the Ukrainian president thanked Christodoulides for supporting the sanctions policy against Russia. He added that EU leaders are currently preparing a new package of anti-Russian sanctions.
"We want to make it truly effective, and that means continuing pressure on the Russian energy sector above all, and on everything else that provides Russia with budget revenues — and therefore the ability to prolong this war," Zelenskyy emphasized.
Ukraine’s accession to the EU
In November, the European Commission published its Report within the EU Enlargement Package. It highly praised Ukraine’s progress, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, stated that the EC is working on opening negotiation clusters for Ukraine’s and Moldova’s accession to the European Union by the end of November.
The only reason the clusters have not yet been opened is the obstruction of Ukraine’s EU accession by pro-Russian Hungary. However, the EC expects negotiations to begin at the working-group level, where Hungary’s veto will not affect the overall decision.
Ukraine expects to join the EU by 2028. But according to Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, Ukraine will only join the EU in the early 2030s.
As RBC-Ukraine previously reported, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine plans in 2026 to open, complete, and close three of the six required negotiation clusters for EU accession.
