President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the board of European Commissioners gathered in Brussels on Tuesday, 24 October, assuring them that Ukraine has fulfilled all the recommendations of the European Commission and is ready to start negotiations on joining the European Union.

"Ukraine has been implementing the seven recommendations of the European Commission as quickly as possible to enable a political decision to open accession negotiations already this year. 

We have done a lot, and I would say – much more than could be expected from a country that has been subjected to full-scale aggression," Zelenskyy said in his address.

Zelenskyy emphasised that Ukraine is not asking for political discounts, but is demonstrating the necessary political pace as it shares the approach that "decisions should be based on the individual achievements of countries that seek to become members of the European Union".

"For Ukraine, this is a top priority – to be ready for a political decision to start negotiations on EU membership this year. And I hope it is the same for the European Union. We have laid a solid basis for this," Zelenskyy said, detailing the implementation of each of the seven recommendations that were provided by the European Commission.

Earlier, Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, expressed confidence that the European Commission will give a positive conclusion to start accession talks before the end of this year.

Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will begin in the first half of 2024, when Belgium holds the EU Council presidency.

Politico reported on a similar scenario. Its sources said the leaders of the European Union will decide to start negotiations on the accession of Ukraine by the end of 2023, and they will actually start a tad later.