The European Union is preparing a range of options to include Ukraine's EU membership in a future peace deal, Bloomberg has found. In turn, the head of EU diplomacy, in an interview for Euronews, expressed concerns about the talks between Russia and Ukraine conducted under the auspices of the US.
Options being prepared by Brussels include giving Kiev the upfront protection of EU accession as well as immediate access to some membership rights, sources told Bloomberg. At the same time, the EU would give Ukraine a clear timetable of actions it must take to proceed to the formal procedure.
Peace plan for Ukraine. What is the EU planning?
Continued below the video:
Other options under consideration include continuing the current accession path or introducing a transition period and gradual membership.
20-point design peace plan, which Ukraine is working on mainly with the USenvisages EU membership in 2027, and Kiev will benefit from some of the benefits of membership at that time. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that his country aims to join the EU by this year because membership is a key security guarantee for Ukraine.
|
Michał Czernek / PAP / photos
Ukraine's accession to the EU
Kiev obtained the status of a candidate country in 2022 after the start of a full-scale invasion by Russia, as well as consent to start accession talks at the end of 2023. Formal negotiations began in 2024, but the process was suspended by Hungary, which is blocking the opening of the so-called negotiation chapters.
See also: End of the war in Ukraine by June. Volodymyr Zelensky: The US is pressing because of the elections
Volodymyr Zelensky stated in January that his country would be fully technically ready in 2027 to become an EU member. This date also appeared in the context of the peace plan presented by the United States.
In turn, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignacy Niemczycki stated that it is in Poland's interest for Ukraine to join the EU, but 2027 “seems very ambitious and very difficult.”
Media leaks from early December suggested that the peace agreement provided for Ukraine's accession to the EU as early as January 1, 2027, but this date is no longer taken into account.
See also: Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector. There is Poland's answer
Russia-Ukraine talks. “They don't have serious people at the table”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in the “Europe Today” program on Monday that the Kremlin does not take talks on Ukraine seriously, and Brussels is considering appointing a special envoy who would represent 27 countries at the negotiating table.
Kallas warned that peace efforts for Ukraine risk entrenching Russian aggression if Moscow is not forced to make real concessions.
The delegations of Ukraine and Russia met in Abu Dhabi last week. Kallas also expressed concerns about the talks between Russia and Ukraine under US auspices, which have not yet produced any results. She said the impasse reflected the Kremlin's lack of seriousness in the face of pressure on Ukraine to make concessions.
“They (Russian negotiators – ed.) don't really have serious people at the table,” she said. “I don't expect this round of talks to produce any results.”
Source: Bloomberg, euronews.com
