Official negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU begin today

Ukraine’s accession to the EU: official negotiations start today, 25 June, at the First Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg.

The intergovernmental conference with Ukraine will start at 15:30, and with Moldova at 18:00 local time.

After the start of the talks, 35 negotiating chapters will be opened. Ukraine will enter the negotiations under several chapters at once, using a cluster approach. There will be six clusters that unite several chapters.

Earlier, European Council President Charles Michel suggested that Ukraine could become an EU member by 2030 if Moldova and Ukraine «do their homework.»

The day before, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that after the completion of the EU accession negotiations, Ukraine would be «three steps away» from full membership in the European Union, namely:

1. The conclusion of the European Commission on the successful completion of negotiations and Ukraine’s compliance with the accession criteria.
2. The decision to sign the Agreement on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
3. Ratification of the agreement by the parliaments of the EU member states and Ukraine’s full membership in the EU.