Ukraine asks to join EU under simplified procedure

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the European Union on Monday to grant his country “immediate” membership under a new, simplified accession procedure. On Saturday, Polish President Andrzej Duda supported giving Ukraine candidate status and starting accession negotiations.

“We are grateful to our partners for being with us, but our dream is to be with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be equal,” Zelensky said in a statement. “Europeans understand that our soldiers are fighting for our state, and therefore for the whole of Europe, for peace, for all EU countries, for the lives of children, equality, democracy.”