MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. Moscow will be keeping a close watch on Ukraine’s potential EU candidacy, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"This would certainly require our close attention, because we all know how discussions on the defense aspects of the EU’s security have intensified in Europe," the presidential spokesman said. The EU is "seeing transformation of all sorts," which should be watched closely, he added.

Later today, the European Commission should come up with a recommendation on granting EU candidacy to Kiev to be considered at a summit of heads of state and government on June 23-24. The European Commission recommendation is the first step on the road towards a country’s EU membership. Further on, it should coordinate a list of necessary conditions with European negotiators. The process could last years. The European Commission initiated a rapid move towards granting candidacy to Kiev amid the conflict in Ukraine.