Both Ukraine and Brussels are working to ensure that negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU officially commence no later than the end of June, when Belgium's presidency of the EU Council ends and Hungary's six-month presidency begins.

A senior EU official, who spoke anonymously, noted two potential scenarios regarding the timeframe for convening an intergovernmental conference to launch accession talks. The first is contingent on the negotiating framework being approved in March, which at this point is considered unlikely.

"The more realistic (scenario) is that the intergovernmental conference will be held in June, after the European elections," the source said.

In a comment to European Pravda, Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, also stressed that negotiations on Ukraine's accession should officially begin in the first half of the year, before the end of Belgium's EU presidency.

"We expect the negotiation framework to be approved and negotiations on Ukraine's accession to begin during the Belgian presidency, in accordance with the agreements reached," she said.

The choice of the end of June as the deadline is not accidental, as Hungary's EU presidency begins on 1 July.

Brussels believes that Hungary does not want the issue to be postponed until its term begins, as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, alone in his obstructionist views on the matter, may have no way to put the brakes on the convening of the conference and stifle negotiations until 2025; in his view, having negotiations forced through against his wishes during his term may come across as political humiliation for Budapest.