Putin: Russia has never been against Ukraine’s accession to the EU

Russia has never objected to Ukraine’s plans to join the European Union, but has always been against its entry into NATO, President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club.

“We have never objected or expressed any negative position regarding plans for Ukraine’s accession to the European Economic Community. Never,” he said.

At the same time, Putin emphasized that Moscow has always opposed Ukraine’s entry into NATO, since it is a military-political bloc. “This position has certain serious grounds, since the expansion of NATO to our borders threatens our security. This is a serious challenge for the security of the Russian Federation,” he emphasized.

Russia does not see any military threat to itself in economic cooperation. “And we don’t consider ourselves to have the right to discuss this. This is a matter for Ukraine itself and European states,” he clarified. Putin also said that at one time Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said that it was necessary to further study the issue, since he considered the terms of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU to pose “certain serious threats to the Ukrainian economy.”

Ukraine declared its European orientation back in the 1990s, and the question of associate membership in the EU became the formal reason for the Euromaidan of 2013–2014. After his victory in 2014, the Ukrainian authorities enshrined the course towards Euro-Atlantic integration in the constitution and took many steps to ensure that the country became a candidate for membership of the European Union. Kyiv submitted documents to join the EU at the end of February 2022. Four months later, the country officially became a candidate for membership in the organization. October 3 Politico reportedthat the European Union expects to officially announce the start of negotiations with Ukraine on its future entry into the union in December.

As for NATO, during the July summit in Vilnius, the member countries of the military alliance agreed on the conditions for Ukraine’s entry into the bloc. An invitation to join will be sent to Kyiv after all conditions have been met, which will be relaxed, which will shorten the accession process. The timing of Ukraine’s entry into NATO was not specified, but earlier NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that Ukraine could not be admitted to the alliance until the end of the conflict.