The draft conclusions of the forthcoming meeting of the European Council at the level of heads of state and government of the member states of the Community, which will be held in Brussels on June 23 and 24, contain a decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the European Union.

This follows from the draft document, which are available to Interfax-Ukraine agency.

The decision is spelled out in the third section of the conclusions entitled "Application for membership of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia."

"The European Council recognises the European perspective of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. The future of these countries and their citizens lies within the European Union. The European Council has decided to grant the status of candidate country to Ukraine and to the Republic of Moldova," according to the draft document.

The draft conclusions also propose that the European Commission is invited to report to the Council "on the fulfilment of the conditions specified in the Commission's opinions on the respective membership applications as part of its regular enlargement package." "The Council will decide on further steps once all these conditions are fully met," according to the draft document.

With regard to Georgia, it is stated that the European Council is "ready to grant the status of candidate country to Georgia once the priorities specified in the Commission's opinion on Georgia's membership application have been addressed."

"The progress of each country towards the European Union will depend on its own merit in meeting the Copenhagen criteria, including the EU's capacity to absorb new members," the officials said in the draft conclusions.

EU leaders are expected to make these decisions on the first day of the summit, as this issue comes first. The summit will start at 15.00 Brussels time.