Ukraine has already become a member of the European family, it remains only to “institutionalize this decision.” Such statement Sunday, February 19, made the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell at the Munich Security Conference.

“Ukraine has already become a member of the European family, a part of it. Now it remains just to institutionalize this decision, ”said Borrell, without specifying when this could happen.

The head of European diplomacy added that Ukraine receives enough weapons from Western allies, but little ammunition. Therefore, according to Borrell, “we need to applaud less” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and supply him with more ammunition.

He also pointed out that the European Union (EU) is the army of Kyiv, since the conflict in Ukraine “has become an existential threat to European security.”

Earlier, on February 13, the Financial Times newspaper pointed to the dissatisfaction of a number of European Union (EU) countries due to Ukraine’s expectation of an early entry into the EU. The publication noted that some EU governments have privately criticized Ukrainian politicians for expecting a quick completion of the process, and the leadership of the union for encouraging these hopes.

On February 11, the President of Ukraine admitted that a number of world leaders see the country as part of the EU only after 10 years. Kyiv has already been predicted that another 30 or 50 years may pass before joining, the Ukrainian leader added.

Before that, on February 3, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at a summit in Kyiv, pointed out the absence of strict deadlines for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. She stressed that everything will depend on the level of preparation of the country for this step.

Commenting on this statement, Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov questioned the possibility of an accelerated process of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. He noted that even the formulation of this issue causes controversy within the community.

On the same day, it became known that the EU considers Ukraine’s level of preparation for joining the union to be low or “early”. The EC report on assessing the country’s readiness for European integration indicates that the country has not reached the level necessary to start the process of Ukraine’s integration into the EU in any of the sectors of the economy.

Zelensky signed an application for the country’s accession to the EU on February 28, 2022. In April, Kyiv submitted to the European Union the completed second part of the questionnaire for obtaining the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union, and in June the European Council agreed on the status of candidates for Ukraine and Moldova. In December, it was reported that the Verkhovna Rada adopted all the bills that are necessary for the country to implement the recommendations of the European Commission to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for joining the European Union.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special operation to protect Donbass. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.