Ukraine will independently approve European Union’s negotiator for dialogue with russia - Zelenskyy

Ukraine will determine the final candidate to represent the European Union in the upcoming negotiations with russia on ending the war. EU leaders will propose several options for formats and candidates, but the final choice will rest with Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made this statement in an interview with TSN for the Yedyni Novyny (United News) telethon.

According to the head of state, the issue of Europe’s role in the dialogue with russia was discussed in detail at the European Council meeting. The closed-door portion of this discussion lasted two hours—for the first time in years, the topic of Ukraine took up so much time at a European Council meeting. The meeting participants assessed the consequences of a scenario in which kremlin leader vladimir putin cannot be brought to the negotiating table in the near future.

Separately, Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined Ukraine’s prospects for European integration over the coming month. According to him, Kyiv has fulfilled all necessary conditions and has a real chance of opening five more clusters in the EU accession negotiations as early as mid- to late July. The President believes that this process could only be hindered by purely political obstruction on the part of certain member states.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Macron stated that after taking office, Trump believed Ukraine would lose the war with russia, which is why he insisted on concluding a peace agreement as soon as possible. However, over time, he became convinced that the predictions of his inner circle were incorrect.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz opposed the EU’s decision to establish a dialogue with russian dictator vladimir putin amid the war in Ukraine, which led to a conflict between the leaders of Europe’s two largest countries and a significant portion of the rest of the bloc.