Kyiv [Ukraine], May 1 (ANI/Sputnik): Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna says that her country expects to obtain EU candidate status already this summer. Ukraine should be granted the status of an EU candidate country during the upcoming meeting of EU leaders that is planned for June 2022, Stefanishyna was cited as saying by the Ukrainian Strana.ua Telegram channel on Saturday.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted Ukraine’s questionnaire for obtaining EU candidate status to EU Ambassador in Ukraine Matti Maasikas. During the EU delegation’s visit to Kyiv on April 8, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen handed Zelenskyy a questionnaire to begin Ukraine’s accession process. She emphasized that this questionnaire would lay the groundwork for further discussions on the country’s EU membership.
Ukraine applied for EU membership on February 28, shortly after Russia launched a military operation after recognizing Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions as “independent republics”. Russia maintains that the aim of its special operation is to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine. (ANI/Sputnik)
