MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Ukraine's accession to the European Union will undermine the bloc’s entire pan-European system and ultimately lead to its collapse, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"The decision to admit a country like Ukraine to the EU, regardless of its territorial problems, will simply undermine the entire system of the EU. And sober minds realize that this will be a burden that the EU will simply not be able to bear, [as a result of which] the EU will collapse [under the weight]," the presidential press secretary said.

Peskov pointed out that the discussion currently concerns only Ukraine's EU accession, whereas a similar dialogue has been going on for a long time already regarding the EU aspirations of a range of other countries. In his view, in the case of Ukraine, the Europeans are papering over any attempt at gaining a deeper understanding of the seriousness of the problem with "an ample dollop of discussion" full of long-winded, high-blown rhetoric. "They are masters at this," the spokesman concluded.

On December 15, EU leaders in Brussels decided to begin accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, which could begin in March 2024 or later. As well, Georgia was granted candidate status for EU membership.