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Germany foreign minister wants Ukraine in EU, yet with no concessions

Earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said Kiev would not accept any alternative to its EU candidacy status

BERLIN, June 3. /TASS/. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has spoken in favor of granting Ukraine a fast-track candidate status in its efforts to join the EU, yet warned that it won’t be possible to have a quick accession process.

"It’s not enough to say you belong to Europe, you belong to the EU. We cannot slam the door in Ukraine’s face now," the minister said in an interview with WDR on Thursday. There can be no discount though, she added.

In early April EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen handed a questionnaire to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Kiev completed it a bit later, and the EU Commission will now need to issue a recommendation for the EU Council to start membership negotiations.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said earlier Kiev would not accept any alternative to its EU candidacy status.

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