Zelenskiy: best guarantee of Europe's future is fast-track EU membership for Ukraine
Ukraine’s EU Membership and European Security
By Jekaterina Golubkova and Ronald Popeski
Zelenskiy’s Appeal to the EU Summit
June 19 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told an EU summit on Thursday the future of Europe was being shaped by the defence of Ukraine and the best security guarantee for the bloc's future was to grant Kyiv fast-track membership.
Zelenskiy said he told member states that Ukraine wanted the war against Russia to be over by the end of the year and he urged them to help Kyiv prepare for another winter with air defence missiles and fuel.
Every democratic nation in Europe deserves to be in the EU, Zelenskiy said, adding: "Ukraine merits this because it has paid more than any other country for its right to be free, independent and ... European."
"The future of Europe – free, united and of course in peace – is being decided in our defence. That shows how unique our situation is," he said in excerpts of his address posted on X.
Ukraine’s Military Capabilities and Recent Strikes
Hours earlier, Ukrainian airstrikes struck targets deep inside Russia, including an oil refinery in Moscow. In meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and other G7 leaders in France this week, Zelenskiy highlighted such long-range strikes as proof of Ukraine's military capabilities.
Challenges to Accelerated EU Accession
In his message to the EU leaders, he acknowledged that not all members would support an accelerated accession. Hungary demanded the removal of such language from a European Council statement released after the summit.
"The most important such step — I know that not everyone loves this — could be a fast-track path for Ukraine to join the EU," Zelenskiy said.
EU ambassadors agreed last week to advance membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova. A statement issued by the European Council after the summit welcomed the beginning of accession talks for Ukraine and said it "looks forward to the opening of the other clusters, in line with the merit-based approach".
But Hungary managed to remove a reference to accelerating accession for Ukraine from the statement, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on X.
"It wasn't easy," he wrote.
Efforts to End the War and Secure Support
Diplomatic and Military Strategies
END THE WAR THIS YEAR
Through diplomacy, via sanctions and military pressure on Russia, Ukraine is pushing to end the war by the winter but Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in agreeing a deal, Zelenskiy said in subsequent comments on Telegram.
"Putin is war," he said, adding that Ukraine would need gas, diesel fuel, energy equipment and a package of at least 300 missiles if the war continued.
European Security and Financial Support
Europe's security depends on securing funding for Ukraine's military, and the EU and the "coalition of the willing" countries supporting Kyiv could develop the financial instruments to ensure that, Zelenskiy said.
Nine countries made commitments totalling $1 billion to buy Patriot missiles for Ukraine under NATO's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List programme, Zelenskiy said in posts on Friday. The interceptors are Ukraine's most effective way of defending itself against Russian ballistic missiles.
However, European plans to buy more Patriot missiles from the U.S. do not automatically mean they will get them, given Washington's current focus on Iran and its need to replenish its own military supplies for possible future conflict there.
New Aid Announcements and Peace Facility
Overall, Kyiv's partners announced $4 billion in new aid for Ukraine, including long-range artillery ammunition, funding for Ukrainian drones, cruise missiles, and naval drones, Ukraine's Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Friday on X.
Zelenskiy also called for the disbursement of 6 billion euros ($6.9 billion) from an EU European Peace Facility intended to uphold international security.
Escalation and Warnings of Further Attacks
The Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow's oil refinery was the second this week in what Kyiv cast as a response to an attack that damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery in the city. Russia has denied responsibility for that attack.
Zelenskiy urged Ukrainians to be prepared for new attacks by Russian forces which could "intensify missile and drone strikes on us. Please make use of the shelters, I urge you."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after the Ukrainian drone attack, said Moscow would carry out "massive coordinated strikes on a regular basis" against Ukraine.
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Jekaterīna Golubkova, additional reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Nia Williams, Sanjeev Miglani, Stephen Coates and Gareth Jones)
