Ukraine's first cluster of EU accession talks to begin in early 2025 – Zelenskyy

Ukraine will begin its first negotiations for joining the European Union in early 2025. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the screening of Ukrainian legislation is already in its final stage.

Zelenskyy said during the presentation of the Resilience Plan for Ukraine to the Ukrainian Parliament that Ukraine has reached the highest level of closeness with the EU and NATO in its history. He highlighted that the necessary framework for negotiations with the EU is now in place.

"We must move faster, progress dynamically, and we are close to completing the screening of Ukraine's legislation. By early 2025, we aim to open negotiations on the first cluster. The second and all subsequent clusters will follow without delay," he said.

The president also emphasised that Ukraine should become the fastest country to join the EU.

The European Union officially began accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in June 2024. In the European Commission’s autumn 2024 enlargement report, they expressed readiness to open the first negotiation clusters with Ukraine next year.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced that during Poland's presidency of the European Union Council in the first half of 2025, Ukraine plans to open two negotiation clusters for EU accession.

EU accession talks are divided into 35 chapters, which are grouped into 6 clusters, which are opened progressively.

The European Commission's report recommended that the opening of these clusters should happen swiftly, ideally in early 2025.

In response, the Ukrainian government is preparing detailed roadmaps for each specific negotiation chapter.