In Cyprus on Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky told an informal EU summit that Ukraine will accept nothing short of full membership in the European Union. He rejected every variant of partial or staged entry floated by member states over the past year.
What Zelensky Said
“Ukraine is defending itself and definitively defending Europe. And it is not defending Europe symbolically. People are actually dying,” Zelensky told reporters.
The president thanked Germany, France, Poland and Romania for backing accelerated accession. Then he turned on Ukrainian officials weighing a softer path.
“Please, do not seek symbolic membership of Ukraine in the EU. I do not support it. The people do not support it,” Zelensky said. “We have already had enough symbolic unions. The Budapest Memorandum. Symbolic security guarantees. NATO. A symbolic path to NATO. We deserve full membership.”
The 90 Billion Euro Loan
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine. Member states also adopted the 20th sanctions package against Russia.
European Council President Antonio Costa said the summit delivered two steps toward a just and lasting peace: strengthening Ukrainian forces, and forcing Russia to take negotiations seriously.
“The next step is opening the first group of accession negotiations for Ukraine to join the European Union,” Costa said. He promised the EU would deliver on accession as it had on the loan and sanctions.
Hungary’s Blockade
Kyiv’s accession bid has been frozen since July 2024. That month Hungary took over the six-month EU Council presidency and refused to open any negotiation cluster during its rotation.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has kept blocking cluster openings after the presidency expired. No cluster has moved since.
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European integration, said Kyiv wants to follow the rulebook without delay. She hopes certain chapters can be treated as closed this year, with the remainder closed in 2027 and an accession treaty to follow.
Caution From Member States
Not every capital wants the timeline compressed.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden said Ukraine belongs in the European family but must first meet membership conditions. “There are no shortcuts,” he said.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever was blunter. Ukrainian accession in the short term, he said, is “not realistic.”
The Context
Zelensky’s demand lands days after he publicly declared the US-Ukraine alliance broken. Washington has diverted weapons shipments to the Iran war, and the Trump administration is pressuring Kyiv to cede Donbas.
With American support collapsing, Ukraine is turning to Europe for its security and political future. Full membership still runs through Budapest, and through capitals uneasy about the pace of enlargement.
