Ukraine should be ready to join EU before war ends – Stefanishyna

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Eurean and Euro-Atlantic Integration ga Stefanishyna said this live on Ukraine's Espreso TV channel, Ukrinform reports.

"After our victory, a decision on Ukraine's membership in NATO can be made very quickly. I can confirm that such a decision requires only the pitical consensus of all 30 allies," she said.

She added that the decision to join the EU should be primarily in the interests of Ukraine.

"There is no need to rush pitically here. This is a lengthy process. Our pitical task is that we, piticians and government officials, must work at 200% so that by the end of the war we have maximum readiness and formed negotiating positions. So that when the war ends, we do not waste time on process, but could proceed to the adtion of pitical decisions. We are in a hurry to start negotiations in 2023 in order to prepare as much as possible and conduct them as quickly as possible and be ready to join the EU by the end of the war. The speed of the process depends, to a large extent, on the EU and, to a certain extent, on ourselves," Stefanishyna said.

In June 2022, the Eurean Council adted a decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate country for joining the Eurean Union. The EU leaders made a similar decision with respect to Mdova.

According to Stefanishyna, as of February 2023, Ukraine has fulfilled more than 70% of its commitments under the Association Agreement with the EU.