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Prospects for Ukraine joining EU fading — Russian envoy

Ukraine is more remote from membership than it had been before though the country always was quite far from it, Russia's Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov says

© EPA/HERWIG VERGULT

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BRUSSELS, December 24. /TASS/. Prospects are dimmer than ever for Ukraine to join the European Union, Russia's Ambassador to the 28-nation bloc told TASS on Wednesday.

“To my mind, Ukraine is more remote from membership than it had been before though the country always was quite far from it,” permanent representative Vladimir Chizhov said.

EU enlargement was proceeding with minimal dynamics though it had not been dropped completely since several Balkan countries continued EU entry talks as did Turkey, though with less success, Chizhov said.

“Even the status of candidate country was granted neither to Ukraine nor to any other former Soviet republic ... and I believe this will not be done in the near future,” the diplomat said.

“We do not gloat over this. This is objective reality," he added, noting the difficulty of these countries' economies meeting requirements set for EU newcomers.

“This does not mean that among countries which have entered the EU in the last few years, all of them comply," the envoy said. "Certainly this is not the case. An element of politics always exists."

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Ukraine EU Vladimir Chizhov

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