The European Council has sent a request to the European Commission to provide, in accordance with the procedure, an opinion on Ukraine's application for membership in the European Union.

This was announced to journalists on Thursday in Brussels by a high-ranking European official. "[In consideration of the application] there are several steps. And the first one that was made on our part was a request to the Commission for an opinion. This was done for Ukraine, which is already an important step. And this is an important political signal," the official said.

Answering the question of Interfax-Ukraine regarding the accelerated procedure, as requested by Kyiv, the interlocutor stated that this is an issue that will be discussed by the leaders. "Not all countries are on one page. This should be discussed at the highest level. When you talk to all the leaders, what is happening with Ukraine will create new parameters and will be of great importance for the Union. And if not next week, then later the leaders will discuss this issue," he detailed.

In addition, by the end of this week, applications for EU membership from Georgia and Moldova are expected in Brussels.

The high-ranking official also stated that among the EU leaders there is a different vision of the enlargement itself.

"In the eastern countries, expansion is seen as a way to stabilize neighbors and as an instrument of foreign policy, where expansion is quite useful. When you look to the west, it's more a matter of being part of a community of values, a family that needs serious reforms. This is the reason why it is sometimes difficult to combine these two opinions. Enlargement has already shown over the years that the EU has a lot of difficult questions about this – sometimes there are bilateral disputes, sometimes there is an occupation of the country. These questions have demonstrated a very complex and difficult discussion among leaders in the past. Therefore, I think they should discuss all the consequences of these applications. And now we are talking about a country in which there is a war. And this is not an easy question. Part of the country – Crimea, as well as the east - is occupied by a foreign state. Of course, this all matters if you decide to accept the fact that this country can be part of the Union. These are very important questions for the leaders and for the future of this country," he said.