Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told an EU summit on Thursday the future of Europe was being shaped by the defense of Ukraine and the best security guarantee for the bloc’s future would be to grant Kyiv fast-track membership.
Zelensky said he told member states that Ukraine wanted the war against Russia to be over by the end of the year and urged them to help Kyiv prepare for another winter with air defense missiles and fuel.
Every democratic nation in Europe deserved to be in the EU and “Ukraine merits this because it has paid more than any other country for its right to be free, independent and ... European,” Zelensky said in excerpts of his address posted on X.
“The future of Europe – free, united and of course in peace – is being decided in our defense. That shows how unique our situation is.”
Hours earlier, Ukrainian air strikes struck targets deep inside Russia, including an oil refinery in Moscow, the latest long-range attacks in a campaign Zelensky highlighted as proof of Ukraine’s capabilities in meetings with US President Donald Trump and other G7 leaders in France this week.
In his message to the EU leaders, he acknowledged that not all members would support an accelerated accession, with Hungary demanding the removal of such language from an 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,” Zelensky said.
EU ambassadors agreed last week to advance membership talks with Ukraine and ex-Soviet Moldova, with discussions beginning on the first of six legal and policy “clusters” to bring legislation and standards into line with the bloc.
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.
End the war this year
Ukraine, which has also sought US support for its efforts to find a peace solution for more than four-year-long conflict, wants to end the war this year, Zelensky said in subsequent comments posted on Telegram.
“Of course, we want to end this war before winter – through diplomacy and by putting pressure on Russia. But we understand who we’re dealing with,” he said.
“Putin is war,” he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine would need gas, diesel fuel, the energy equipment and a missile package of at least 300 missiles if the war extends further, Zelensky said.
The security of Europe depended 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, he added.
He also called for the disbursement of 6 billion euros from an EU European Peace Facility intended to uphold international security.
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.
In an audio message issued at the end of the summit and an earlier meeting of the “Ramstein” group on military assistance for Ukraine, Zelensky restated that Ukraine was ready for talks with Putin on resolving the war. But he urged Europe to remain vigilant and maintain pressure on Moscow.
“Europe has to be engaged for us to have a strong position, to commit fully on sanctions without loopholes, on confiscation without exceptions and on funding Ukraine,” he said.
He also 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 on Thursday, said Moscow would carry out “massive coordinated strikes on a regular basis” against Ukraine.
