The president of the European Parliament has called for Ukraine to start negotiations on membership in the European Union as early as this year and urged Kyiv's allies to expand arms deliveries to the Ukrainian armed forces as they continue to fight Russia's unprovoked invasion.
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Roberta Metsola met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior Ukrainian officials on March 4 during a visit to the western city of Lviv.
"I hope that accession negotiations can start already this year. The future of Ukraine is in the European Union," Metsola said after her meeting with Zelenskiy.
Ukraine was granted candidate status in June to join the 27-member bloc four months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, in a move hailed by Zelenskiy as "historic" at the time, although negotiations can take years.
After the official start of negotiations, the European Commission will have to assess whether Kyiv meets the criteria for EU membership in terms of good governance, corruption eradication, democratic freedoms, and the rule of law.
The process often takes more than five years. Negotiations with Turkey and the Western Balkans have come to a standstill amid numerous obstacles.
But Metsola lauded Ukraine's progress.
"The pace with which the government is making progress on the EU application impresses me," she said.
Metsola also called on Ukraine's western allies to beef up arms deliveries for the Ukrainian military, which has been fighting a monthslong Russian offensive in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and also spoke in favor of delivering modern warplanes to Kyiv.
"Member states should seriously consider sending fighter jets to Ukraine," Metsola said.
She also held talks with Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker uf Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.