EU-Ukraine summit: negotiation results

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and President of the European Council Charles Michel made a joint statement following the results of the EU-Ukraine summit held on February 3 in Kyiv, Hromadske reports. 

Ukraine's accession to the EU

The parties confirmed their commitment to deepen relations and support further European integration of Ukraine. The EU will decide on additional steps when all the conditions specified in the European Commission's opinion are fully met.

The government assures Ukraine is successfully implementing seven recommendations of the European Commission. In the spring, the authorities are counting on a positive evaluation of the efforts and being ready for pre-accession negotiations by the end of 2023. The European Commission agreed to provide interim conclusions in the spring.

The EU noted the significant efforts that Ukraine has demonstrated in recent months and called for continuing to fulfill the conditions for joining the EU.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 72% of our obligations under the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU had been fulfilled.

Implementation of reforms

The statement emphasizes that the implementation of judicial reforms based on the recommendations of the Venice Commission remains vital to strengthening Ukraine's stability and progress in the enlargement process.

The EU welcomed the progress in ensuring the independent and effective work of anti-corruption institutions and bringing media legislation into line with EU laws.

Ukraine will continue consultations and cooperate with the Venice Commission and continue substantive dialogue with representatives of national minorities.

Sanctions against russia

The Ukrainian side expects the EU's tenth sanctions package. The meeting discussed sanctions against the russian missile program, expansion of energy sanctions, in particular in the nuclear field, expansion of personal sanctions, etc.

The parties agreed on the need to create a legal mechanism to bring russia to justice for crimes of aggression, an appropriate tribunal.

They also discussed the use of frozen russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

To recap, the EU-Ukraine Summit took place on February 3 in Kyiv. The President of the European Commission, the President of the European Council, and several European commissioners came to Ukraine to participate in the summit.