BRUSSELS, June 19. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Ukraine cannot join the European Union (EU) while it's still in a state of war.

"A country such as Ukraine, which is at war, cannot become a member of the EU," he told reporters following the European Union summit. "However, it could become an associate member of the EU and later a full member of the union," the chancellor said. He noted that such a step would not require amendments to the EU treaties.

Earlier, Merz sent a letter to the leaders of EU member states and the heads of the European Commission and the European Council, proposing that Ukraine receive special status as an "associate member" of the bloc. He presented the initiative "not as a simplified version of EU membership," but as an expansion of the existing 2014 Association Agreement, which, in his view, would help accelerate the accession process. The chancellor also proposed integrating Ukraine into all of the bloc's military structures and extending to it the provisions of Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union, which provides for mutual assistance in the field of defense.

In a government statement to parliament, the chancellor argued that associate membership in the European Union would allow Kiev to participate in European Council meetings and would also grant the country a European commissioner position without voting rights.