New Delhi: The European Union on Friday backed Ukraine’s bid to become a candidate to join the bloc, along with its neighbour Moldova, in what is being perceived as a strategic eastward expansion following Russia’s invasion of the country.
European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels the executive recommended Ukraine be given candidate status. She said: “This is of course on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of further reforms.
“In the view of the Commission, Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the country’s aspiration and the country’s determination to live up to European values and standards.”
Ukraine applied to join the EU just four days after Russia invaded it. Former Soviet states Moldova and Georgia – also fighting Russian separatists — applied four days later. Georgia, however, has to meet more conditions before a possible EU nod.
EU leaders are expected to endorse the decision in a summit next week.
Moscow, on the other hand, continues to criticise the West’s supply of arms to Ukraine. On Thursday, while the heads of France, Germany and Italy visited Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov hoped they would not “support Ukraine by further pumping it with weapons”.
Meanwhile, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said Friday that the West was seeking to “turn Eurasia into a region of puppet states at war with each other”
Russian news agency TASS quoted him as saying: “Turning Eurasia into a conflict hot spot, a region of warring countries, like Ukraine, of puppet states or colonies is the West’s long-term objective.”
He said the US and allies consistently made efforts to undermine post-Soviet alliances like the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
Also read: EU takes legal action over UK’s post-Brexit deal change