President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a joint statement following the Ukraine-EU summit.
The text of the statement is published on the European Council website.
“The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement has been and continues to be of essential importance in facilitating and promoting Ukraine’s further integration with the EU. The EU recalled the decision by the European Council to recognise Ukraine’s European perspective and grant to Ukraine the status of a candidate country. The EU reiterated its commitment to support Ukraine’s further European integration. The EU will decide on further steps once all conditions specified in the Commission's opinion are fully met,” the statement reads.
The bloc recognised the significant efforts that Ukraine has demonstrated in recent months and urged it to continue on this path and fulfil the conditions specified in the Commission's proposals to move towards future EU membership.
The EU has analyzed the main reforms implemented by Ukraine and expressed its readiness to provide support in this direction.
The parties also touched upon the Russian invasion. The EU emphasized that it would never recognise any attempts to illegally annex Ukrainian territories and called on Russia to vacate the seized lands.
The EU will also support the International Criminal Court's investigation of Russian aggression.
The statement also calls for increased collective pressure on the aggressor country through sanctions and support for the peace formula proposed by Zelenskyy.
“The EU reiterated its readiness to support Ukraine’s initiative for a just peace based on respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. To date, Russia has not shown any genuine willingness regarding a fair and sustainable peace. We expressed our support to the peace formula of President Zelenskyy and our commitment to actively work with Ukraine on the 10-point peace plan. In this regard, we support the idea of a Peace Formula Summit aiming at launching its implementation,” the statement reads.