MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. The EU decision to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova is politicized, as these countries obviously do not meet the requirements to join, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"The EU has always had fairly strict criteria for accession, and it is obvious that neither Ukraine nor Moldova meet these criteria at this time. The EU is already going through the times that aren’t the best in its history, both from the perspective of the functioning of this union and from the perspective of the economy," he said.

"It is clear that this is an absolutely politicized decision," the spokesman continued. "This desire of the EU is a way to demonstrate support for these countries, but, of course, such new members can actually destabilize the EU. And, of course, because we and the EU exist on the same European continent, it’s not without interest to us, so we are watching it closely."

On Thursday, EU member countries decided to start negotiations on granting candidate status to Georgia, and also decided to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova.