France wants to reach the start of the negotiations for the accession of Ukraine to the European Union union by the end of June. This was said by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, at a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
In his words, Paris will facilitate the acceptance of Kyiv into the North Atlantic Alliance. “As for NATO, at the summit in Washington on July 9-11, we will have the opportunity to confirm the need for Ukraine to be as close as possible to the alliance,” said the French president.
On May 29, the European version of the newspaper "Politico" reported, citing an unnamed official, that EU officials want to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the community before Hungary's EU Council presidency begins on July 1.
According to the publication, although Ukraine has already implemented some of the measures recommended in the latest EC report on Ukraine, Hungary still has objections regarding the protection of ethnic and linguistic minorities.
Macron called on the Russian authorities to release the Frenchman Laurent Vinatier detained in Moscow.
„We call on Russia to clarify all the details of this case and release him as quickly as possible,” he said at the press conference with Zelensky.
He called the accusations against the Frenchman "elements of propaganda".
As the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee announced earlier, the detainee is French citizen Laurent Vinatier. According to the Russian authorities, "for several years, the person involved has been carrying out a targeted collection of information in the field of military and military-technical activities of the Russian Federation.
The investigative committee noted that this information, if obtained from foreign sources, could be used against national security.
Vinatier works as a consultant for the Swiss NGO Center for Humanitarian Dialogue.
Earlier, the Zamoskvorets court chose for the Frenchman a preventive measure of detention until August 5. He was charged under Part 3 of Art. 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (non-compliance with provisions provided by the legislation of the Russian Federation for foreign agents). The maximum term under this article is up to five years in prison.