EU yet to finalize stance on Ukraine for leaders' summit - Foreign Ministry
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The European Union has not yet decided on funding aid and starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession ahead of the EU leaders' summit. The summit will take place on December 14-15, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba following a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
"They (EU ministers - ed.) have four decisions on the table now. These are the opening of membership negotiations, the European Peace Fund, the Ukraine support fund, and sanctions. There is a fifth decision on frozen assets, but it is not on the table yet. They say that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow it will be put on the table, and then we will talk about the five decisions," the Minister says.
Kuleba emphasizes that as of now, no decisions have been made on these issues.
"There are no decisions on any of these decisions now. That is, everything is up in the air and negotiations are ongoing," he says.
At the same time, Kuleba believes that there are other ways to resolve financial issues, but a consensus is needed to open negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
According to Kuleba, the ministers also discussed security guarantees for Ukraine. According to the Foreign Minister, European Diplomacy Chief Josep Borrell confirmed that the EU is ready to sign the agreement, and negotiations on the content of the issue are moving forward.
EU leaders' summit
The EU leaders' summit will take place on December 14-15. It will discuss several issues related to Ukraine. In particular, the start of EU accession negotiations, as well as the provision of €50 billion in economic support and another €20 billion for Ukraine's army. In addition, a new package of sanctions against Russia is on the agenda.
Media reports say that Hungary will block everything related to supporting Ukraine. The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Hungary will meet on the eve of the summit. This will be their first meeting since the start of the full-scale war.
European media speculate that the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession may be postponed to March 2024 because of Hungary.
