Brussels - EU agreed on Thursday to grand candidacy to Ukraine and Moldova, as announced by President of the European Council Charles Michel. The candidacy of Ukraine will be processed with uncharacteristic speed and unity to pull the embattled country further away from Russia’s influence and bind it more closely to the West.
"Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU," Mr Michel said, describing the European Council's decision as a "historic moment".
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's formal candidature to join the European Union was a big step towards strengthening Europe at a time when Russia was testing its freedom and unity.
"It's a unique and historical moment in UA[Ukraine]-EU relations..." he tweeted. "Ukraine's future is within the EU."
Zelensky told EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday that their decision to accept Kyiv's candidacy was among the most important for Ukraine since it broke from the Soviet Union 31 years ago.
European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted after the decision: "A historic moment", adding "Our future is together."
Granting Ukraine EU-candidate status is an important “symbolic message” to support Kiev amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday. Actual admission of the country into the bloc, however, will take “many years” and a “lot of reforms,” he said.
Ukraine is expected to be accorded candidate status during the ongoing European Council summit.
Still, the process of actual accession into the bloc will be a bumpy road as the country has to tackle a wide range of issues to meet EU standards, the premier pointed out.
“This does not mean that Ukraine will soon be part of the European Union. It is a process of many years with a lot of reforms which will be very difficult and for us it is very important to give a strong symbolic signal,” De Croo explained.
To gain EU membership, countries must meet a detailed host of economic and political conditions, including a commitment to the rule of law and other democratic principles. Ukraine will have to curb entrenched government corruption and adopt other reforms.
Zelensky has vowed not to rest until Russia's defeat and full membership had been secured.
Russia continued its massive assault in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region on Friday - with the day marking four months since President Vladimir Putin invaded its neighbour, sparking the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two, killing thousands, uprooting millions and reducing cities to rubble.
It has also fuelled a global energy and food crisis.
After failing to gain a quick victory by capturing Kyiv, Putin's forces are now focused on taking control of eastern Ukraine in what has become a war of attrition, with no end in sight, and the risk that the conflict could widen in Europe.
-AP/BBC/Reuters/RT