European Union Leaders Reaffirm Ukraine’s Prospects for Membership
EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and EU Council President António Costa jointly announced on Monday that Ukraine has made significant progress in its accession-related reforms under challenging conditions. They also highlighted the increasing integration of the country into the European internal market. “The future of Ukraine and its citizens lies in the European Union” the three EU leaders stated.
The EU leaders particularly emphasized the economic scope of the European Union’s support for Ukraine. “The European Union has provided Ukraine with economic, humanitarian, financial and military aid totaling 135 billion euros, of which 48.7 billion euros is for military aid” von der Leyen, Metsola and Costa said. Meanwhile, Russia has been met with “unprecedented” sanctions, while “windfall gains” from frozen Russian assets are being used to subsidize Ukrainian defense and energy production.