Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, who is also the Justice Minister of Ukraine, expects that the first chapters of future negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union will be opened as early as at the beginning of 2025.

She said this to journalists in Brussels on Wednesday, informing about the results of her visit.

"In Ukraine, the fourth round of negotiations to discuss the future membership of Ukraine in the EU, the issue of trade and economic policy has been completed. We expect decisions on the opening of the first 10-15 chapters of future negotiations already in early 2025," Stefanyshina said.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that she made this visit directly after new European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, President of the European Council António Costa and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaya Kallas visited Ukraine. According to Stefanishyna, during the meetings with the above-mentioned EU officials, they discussed the issues of negotiation processes, priorities of financial support for Ukraine, further work on the use of frozen Russian assets, as well as priority directions of EU funds, in particular, for needs related to Ukraine's survival.

She confirmed that the decision to allocate loans to Ukraine at the expense of frozen Russian assets "has actually been made."

"Part of the funds will arrive already this year and will be distributed throughout 2025 on a monthly basis in the range of EUR 20 billion," the official said.

Stefanishyna also described a meeting with European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andris Kubilius, who is "determined" to help Ukraine.

"I believe that it is necessary to wait for the meeting of the European Council. It is important to hear the position of the president of the European Commission after the European Commission has been formed," she said.

In addition, Stefanishyna informed that during the meeting with the European Commissioner for Justice, she spoke about "the progress of negotiations on the opening of the first cluster, the roadmap in the field of the rule of law."

"We paid special attention to the issues of accountability for war crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine. And it was important for me to agree already during the first meeting that the issue of responsibility of the Russian Federation is also not a subject of discussion. [...] I, unfortunately, cannot share details now, but I see a very good prospect in the steps that may already be implemented in 2025 regarding the fact that Russia will not only be responsible, but will also pay for crimes committed in Ukraine," she said.