President Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed next week's planned opening of his country's EU accession negotiations.
This event will officially mark the start of Kiev's integration process into the European Union.
"We look forward to next week, on 25 June, when Ukraine and the EU will hold their first intergovernmental conference, which will mark the effective start of the negotiation process," he wrote in X.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, expressed satisfaction that "we did not allow anyone or anything to divert us from our historic course," AFP reported.
"Nothing can prevent (Ukraine) from realizing its European dream," he said.
Senior Ukrainian presidential official Igor Yovkva said he hoped the start of these talks would facilitate EU military and economic aid to support Kiev in its war with Russia.
"There will be more encouragement, and it will be provided faster," said Yovkva, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
In granting aid to Ukraine, EU member states will henceforth proceed from "the principle that any euro aid is granted to a country that will eventually become a member of the EU, it is no longer a third country," Yovkva stressed.
However, he refused to speculate on a possible date for Kiev to join the EU, saying only that this would happen after its "victory" over Russia and therefore "under very different geopolitical circumstances."
Ukraine will form a "strong negotiating team" and conduct these talks "as intensively as possible" while protecting its economic interests, Yovkva argued.
"The European Commission delegation that will lead the negotiations will take into account the positions of the member states. We see how difficult it is already on some issues with some countries," he said.
"What I can predict is that no Ukrainian economic position will be abandoned," Yovkva concluded. | BGNES
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