Bloc officials have given no timeline for Ukrainian accession, insisting it should adopt major reforms, Dmitry Kuleba has suggested<\/p>\n
EU membership could sweeten the realization that Ukraine has lost territory \u2013 particularly regarding Donbass \u2013 if the trade-off ends the fighting with Russia, former Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said.
\nIn an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda published on Monday, Kuleba offered his take on Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s idea of holding a referendum on territorial concessions ahead of any peace deal with Russia. Moscow has insisted that Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions are integral parts of Russia as they voted to join the country in referendums in 2022.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also dismissed the referendum idea as a plot by Kiev to buy time, stressing that Russia wants \u201cpeace, not a ceasefire,\u201d and calling a truce \u201ca breather\u201d and \u201canother deception\u201d on the part of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
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Zelensky claims referendum on territorial concessions necessary<\/p>\n
Kuleba argued that Zelensky understands that whatever deal he eventually strikes with Moscow must be \u201csold\u201d to Ukrainian society, adding that opinion polls can vastly diverge from what people say \u201cin the streets and in kitchens.\u201d
\n\u201cIf people are told, \u2018Here is what we have to give up, but this will stop everything, and here is what we will get in return \u2013 a strong army, billions for reconstruction, and EU membership,\u2019 then, forgive me for expressing a heretical thought, I think this is something that society would be ready to accept,\u201d he said.
\nThe EU, however, has given no timeline for Ukrainian accession, with senior officials stressing that membership can come only after sweeping reforms. Brussels has said Kiev must meet strict conditions, including overhauling the judiciary, strengthening the rule of law, and tackling endemic corruption.
\nKuleba also insisted that any peace deal should not state that Ukraine is renouncing the territory \u201cforever.\u201d He added that a referendum would be the only way to give such a settlement durable legitimacy, warning that simple ratification in parliament could be repudiated by new parties after elections.
\nRussia is in control of more than 80% of Donbass overall. President Vladimir Putin has stressed that Moscow will ultimately push Ukrainian troops from the region either through diplomacy or military means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bloc officials have given no timeline for Ukrainian accession, insisting it should adopt major reforms, Dmitry Kuleba has suggested EU membership could sweeten the realization that Ukraine has lost territory…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t