The European Union acknowledged Ukraine's "considerable efforts" in recent months to advance toward membership in the 27-nation bloc and urged Kyiv to continue on that path after EU leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Ukrainian capital in a show of support.
Speaking at a news conference after the meeting on February 3 with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, Zelenskiy pressed again for negotiations to start relatively soon.
As air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv and across Ukraine, Zelenskiy told the news conference that Ukraine's goal was to start negotiations this year, adding "this is not just a purpose but a major overwhelming goal."
Von der Leyen said there were no rigid timelines for Ukraine to join the European Union, and reiterated that Kyiv must meet certain benchmarks as part of its membership push.
A joint statement published after the meeting mentioned Ukraine's determination to start talks "as soon as possible" without providing a date. It also said that a formal review of Kyiv's efforts to fulfill a set of conditions to begin accession talks is due later this year.
Ukraine was granted candidate status for membership in the 27-member bloc in June.
However, Brussels has been firm in its position that while it backs Ukraine's bid, the country will need to implement a wide array of democratic and economic reforms and root out endemic corruption before it can be admitted, and that the admission process could take many years.
Among the reforms are changes to the selection procedure for constitutional judges and the passage of legislation limiting the influence of oligarchs.
Zelenskiy has pledged to root out entrenched corruption that has weakened the effectiveness of state institutions even as the country faced an increasingly aggressive Russia since 2014, culminating with Moscow's unprovoked invasion.
Several high-ranking officials' homes were raided by anti-corruption agents on February 1 in a second sweep in a week.
Both von der Leyen and Michel made positive public statements about Ukraine's progress and the EU's commitment to supporting Ukraine's goal.
Von der Leyen commended the Ukrainian government for taking swift action against corruption, and Michel said Ukraine and the EU "are family" and the future of Ukraine "is within the European Union." But he did not comment on a timeline.
Von der Leyen, who arrived in Kyiv on February 2 with a team of 15 commissioners, told the news conference that the EU's next sanctions package against Russia would target components used in Russian drones that have been deployed in Ukraine.
Responding to a remark by Zelenskiy, who said Kyiv hopes the bloc's sanctions campaign will gain momentum again after appearing to have "slightly slowed down" recently, von der Leyen said:
"We will introduce with our G7 partners an additional price cap on Russian petroleum products, and by February 24 -- exactly one year since the invasion started -- we aim to have the 10th package of sanctions in place."
The summit comes after the EU commissioners met their counterparts in the Ukrainian government for the first-ever joint meeting on February 2.
