The EU wants to start membership talks with Ukraine "as soon as possible", said European Council President Antonio Costa, quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reports.
"We want to be able to officially start negotiations as soon as possible and to make progress in the enlargement process," Costa said at a press conference in Oslo, but without committing to a specific date.
The US plan to end the war in Ukraine envisages Kiev joining the European Union as early as January 2027, but this timetable is considered unrealistic by most experts.
"I cannot say whether it will be in 2026, in 2027 or later. "However, the important thing is not to lose momentum," Costa added.
The President of the European Council noted that despite the war, Ukraine is carrying out the necessary reforms to become a full member of the EU, which he assessed as "particularly impressive".
"There are rules for the accession process," said Antonio Costa in response to a question about whether Ukraine could be "partially" admitted to the EU. "Candidate countries are obliged to meet these criteria," he added.
One of the conditions for EU enlargement is that the accession of a country requires the approval of all EU member states, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is openly hostile to the Ukrainian candidacy. Despite this circumstance, Costa recalled that in 2022 Hungary agreed to Ukraine receiving candidate status for accession.