Ireland has started its presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1, and Ukraine expects the opening of the remaining five negotiation clusters regarding EU accession already this month and looks forward to further strengthening of sanctions pressure on Russia, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
"Today, Ireland begins its presidency of the Council of the European Union. We congratulate them and very much hope that we will not waste a single month in this half-year. Now, in July, there are high chances of opening the remaining five negotiation clusters. There are no substantive obstacles to this. We also expect that fair pressure on Russia will expand. Right now is a moment when, thanks to our long-range and medium-range sanctions, Russia has become particularly sensitive. These successes should be supported by new decisive steps from Europe and our other partners," Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.
He also emphasized the importance of the EU being as effective as possible in all programs that strengthen Europe, in particular in joint defense cooperation. "Ukraine is ready for active work, because our shared strength and unity are the foundation of our common security," he noted.
The President also thanked Cyprus for its fruitful and meaningful presidency of the Council of the European Union. "During these six months, we managed to open the first cluster and officially start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. We activated a financial support package from the European Union for EUR 90 billion. The 20th package of sanctions against Russia was approved. All these historic steps made Ukraine and our Europe stronger," Zelenskyy said.
