The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union will support the process of further integration of Ukraine into the EU, Foreign Minister of Sweden Tobias Billstrom has said.

To an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent's question about possible start of talks on Ukraine's accession to EU this year, he said that this process should be carried out step by step. As soon as the European Commission presents its report on Ukraine's progress in the implementation of the European Commission's recommendations given within the framework of granting it the status of candidate for EU membership, the Council of the EU will review the progress, Billstrom said, adding that the role of the Presidency is to support this process.

Billstrom emphasized that Sweden welcomes the efforts taken by Ukraine during the war. He also said that the EU will continue to support Ukraine on its path to future membership in the EU.

When asked about future sanctions against Russia, the minister said that it is necessary to consider how should collective pressure on Russia be strengthened in order to put an end to this war of aggression and make Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine and restore Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The EU will continue to make sanctions even tougher, he said, adding that another priority of their further work will be the effective implementation of the adopted sanctions and the prevention of bypassing them.