Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva stated that Ukraine is counting on a political decision on membership in the European Union as early as 2027. According to him, this is the basis of future security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe.
He said this at a meeting with a delegation from the European Parliament's Committee on Security and Defense (SEDE), the OPU press service reported.
“Ukraine's membership in the European Union is the basis of future security guarantees for Ukraine and all of Europe. That is why we need a clear political decision on Ukraine's membership as early as 2027,” Zhovkva said.
According to him, already in the first half of 2026, Ukraine will be fully ready to open all negotiation clusters.
The SEDE delegation was led by Committee Chair Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. Representatives from Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Germany and France participated in the meeting.
The parties also discussed Ukraine's needs in air defense. Zhovkva noted that Ukraine needs additional missiles for air defense systems. He recalled the PURL initiative, thanks to which Ukraine purchases air defense missiles from the United States. 24 countries joined the program with a total contribution of $5 billion. Ukraine's needs for 2026 within the PURL framework are $15 billion.
Separately, they discussed defense cooperation within the framework of the SAFE instrument. The amount for potential joint projects is about 5.2 billion euros.
“Some countries have already included joint projects with Ukraine in their national investment plans. At the same time, we believe that the share of SAFE funds for joint production should be at least 10% of the contribution of each member state,” Zhovkva emphasized.
The parties also discussed preparations for the Ramstein format meeting, scheduled for February 12.
What is known about the issue of accelerated accession of Ukraine to the EU?
On January 27, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine hopes to become a member of the EU as early as 2027.
On January 28, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Ukraine will not be able to join the EU in the near future – according to him, the option of joining the bloc from January 1, 2027 is “out of the question” and “impossible.”
He noted that any country that wants to join the EU must first fulfill the Copenhagen criteria . The Copenhagen criteria are a set of political, economic and legal requirements that countries must meet in order to become members of the European Union. They were approved by the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993 and have become the basis for all future EU enlargements. — a process that usually takes several years. At the same time, Merz stressed that Ukraine needs a perspective that will pave the way for accession in the long term.
On January 29, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Cos noted that many EU member states would like to see Ukraine as part of the bloc as early as 2027. According to her, despite the fact that the exact dates of accession are currently unknown, work on accelerating the country's European integration is actively underway.
On January 30, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “will be ready” to join the EU with all negotiation clusters by the end of 2026.