Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit Kyiv on Saturday - Zelenskyy

On the first day of Spain's presidency of the Council of the European Union, July 1, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit Ukraine.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this during an online speech at a meeting of the European Council, the press service of the Office of the President quotes.

"I consider it symbolic that this Saturday, on the first day of Spain's presidency of the EU, at my invitation, Mr. Prime Minister of Spain Sanchez will visit Ukraine. For the first time, the beginning of the country's presidency in the EU will be emphasized by a visit to Ukraine. And it says a lot about how important these six months will be for our Europe," he said.

According to Zelenskyy, this is a historic time to begin negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union.

"Europe of values, a free and strong Europe, a Europe of peace is unthinkable without Ukraine. We are ready to begin membership negotiations, and our progress in implementing the recommendations of the European Commission should be recorded. Ukraine is determined to prepare as quickly as possible for the start of negotiations about membership, and we will do this," he added.

Member states hold the post of Chairman of the Council of the European Union for a period of six months. From July 1 to the end of December, Spain will begin its semi-annual presidency to replace Sweden.