Deputy PM: Ukraine expects EU accession negotiation framework 'no later than March 12.'

Ukraine expects the European Commission to present a negotiation framework for Kyiv's accession to the EU "no later than March 12," Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna said, as reported by the media on March 4. After Ukraine applied to join the EU in 2022, European leaders agreed to open membership talks during a European Council summit last December. "No later than March 12, we expect the European Commission to present a negotiation framework and assess the progress of reforms so that EU countries can make a decision on March 19," Stefanishyna told journalists at the sideline of an international platform on victims of conflict-related sexual violence, Ukrinform reported.

"We hope that there will be no delays." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned different timelines for the preparation of the framework on several occasions. During a press briefing on Feb.

21, she said that the framework would not be ready before the June elections for the European Parliament. Only a few days later, during her trip to Kyiv, von der Leyen named mid-March as the expected timeline. The European Commission started screening Ukraine's legislation for compliance with EU laws in late January, marking the first necessary step of the accession process.

EU ambassador to Ukraine: 'Even Putin can't stop Ukraine's accession'

Ukraine is now one step closer to its strategic goal of becoming a member of the European Union.

On Nov.

8, the European Commission published its annual enlargement report.

In it, the commission confirmed that Ukraine had completed enough of the steps laid out in seven recommendations it received f...