Zelenskyy on Ukraine's 2024 goals: forging closer EU ties, redefining relations with NATO allies
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with representatives of the government and the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, on the country’s plans for EU and NATO relations in 2024, Zelenskyy announced in an address on Jan. 7.
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According to Zelenskyy, his priorities will be implementing the decision to open negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU and building a new system of relations and communication with NATO members, so that "every leader feels one hundred percent" that the Alliance will become much stronger together with Ukraine.
The meeting also discussed non-public work with partners and clearly formulated tasks, the president said.
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Nov. 2 that the Alliance should offer Ukraine membership at the NATO next summit in Washington.
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The essence of this idea is to accept Ukraine into the Alliance, but to ensure that Article 5 of the NATO collective defense treaty applies only to the part of the country controlled by the Ukrainian government at that time.
Zelenskyy said on Dec. 19 that such a partial accession is "nonsense" and emphasized that Ukraine has not yet been invited to join NATO, and the option of partial participation "has not been discussed with any partners.”
The European Council announced the start of membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova on Dec. 14, and also granted candidate status to Georgia.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said that the European Council's decision to start negotiations with Ukraine on EU accession does not contain any additional conditions.
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European Parliament member Andrius Kubilius said that negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union will not be easy, but they could yield results by 2030.
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