Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Union Commission, said while her visit to Kyiv that the EU will accelerate Ukraine’s membership process as much as it can.
Speaking at a press conference, President Leyen asserted that the EU could never reach the sacrifice of the Ukrainian people and offered a quick start to the nation’s request to join the EU.
EU President Leyen noted on her official Twitter account, “Ukraine belongs in the European family. And today, Ukraine takes another important step toward EU membership. We will accelerate this process as much as we can while ensuring that all conditions are respected.”
In addition to making such a statement, at the end of her speech, von der Leyen gave a questionnaire to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The questionnaire represents a starting point for decisions regarding Ukraine’s membership.
Von der Leyen noted that, in general, this procedure would take years; however, for Ukraine, it will only be a matter of weeks.
During her speech, the President of the EU Commission also mentioned how the EU is ready to provide financial aid to Ukraine. In addition, she said that the authorities are already preparing the sixth wave of sanctions against Russia.
“We can never match the sacrifice of the Ukrainian people. But we are mobilizing our economic power to make Putin pay. We have imposed heavy sanctions against Russia and are already preparing for the sixth wave. Russia will descend while Ukraine is marching towards a European future,” von der Leyen added.
The Council of the European Union has recently announced its fifth package of sanctions because of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
The Council of the European Union recently announced its fifth package of sanctions in response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
The list of individuals and entities that will now be subject to sanctions includes high-ranking Kremlin officials, elites, and other prominent people in business involved in key economic sectors such as the finance, energy, media, defence and arms industries.
In addition, the list also includes family members of persons who have already been sanctioned.