BERLIN, February 20. /TASS/. The prospect of joining the European Union (EU) could convince Kiev to make territorial concessions, Die Welt reported citing EU diplomats.

According to one diplomat, Vladimir Zelensky "needs a real trump card," if he wants to gain popular support for territorial concessions to Moscow. According to the newspaper, Brussels may agree to an accelerated Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

The story says that Kiev "does not have enough time" to go through the standard procedure, as Ukraine lags "light years" behind the EU members in the rule of law and the fight against corruption. To NATO diplomats, its admission to the community by 2030 seems "practically guaranteed," though this is unlikely to happen in 2027.

Kiev expects that a political decision on EU membership will be made in 2027. In June 2022, the country was granted the status of a candidate member. The European Commission offered to start negotiations on admission back in 2024, but these plans were thwarted by Hungary. The admission negotiations are aimed at synchronizing legislation of the candidate country with the laws of the European Union. They usually last more than 10 years, but there are no strict limits. Politico reported that the European Union is developing a five-step plan to accelerate Ukraine’s adoption.

In September, President Vladimir Putin said Russia had never objected to Ukraine's EU membership, but considered its accession to NATO unacceptable. Moscow has repeatedly stated its categorical disagreement with the presence of any foreign troops on Ukrainian territory.