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Zelensky has internal deadline for Ukraine’s accession to EU, says foreign minister Kuleba

The decision still depends on the EU, not only on Ukraine, Kuleba noted

KIEV, July 19. /TASS/. Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky has set an internal deadline for joining the EU, the country’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said.

"President Zelensky personally, not the government, has set an internal deadline for Ukraine’s accession to the EU, but I won’t tell you," Kuleba said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine.

The decision still depends on the EU, not only on Ukraine, Kuleba said. "If we announce a deadline, we could scare someone in the EU so much that he will deliberately slow down everything related to Ukraine’s European integration," Ukraine’s top diplomat added.

At a summit on June 23, the EU leaders decided to grant Ukraine the status of candidate country, but starting negotiations has conditions attached. Kiev should tackle corruption, run a major judicial reform and implement an anti-oligarch law. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine had "a very clear European perspective," but membership would take time and require hard work, she warned.

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