EU starts accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova. Zelenskyy reacts

She made the announcement on her Facebook page.

"Congratulations to Moldova and Ukraine on opening accession negotiations. This is very good news for the people of Ukraine, Moldova, and the entire European Union," she wrote.

At the same time, the President of the European Commission warned that the path to EU accession "will be challenging but full of opportunities"

"Wishing you a successful start of the negotiations," Ursula von der Leyen emphasized.

Zelenskyy's reaction

"Today is a historic day when we are moving to actual, real negotiations with the European Union on Ukraine's membership. On February 2022 28, a few days after the start of the full-scale invasion, we signed an application for membership," the President of Ukraine stressed.

He recalled that Ukraine gained candidate status in June 2022, and in December last year, it received a political decision on accession negotiations. 

"But it is from today that the start of our membership in the European Union will be counted: the first intergovernmental conference between Ukraine and the EU is today," Zelenskyy added. - "We will never be swayed from our path to a united Europe, to our common home — all European nations. A home that should be peaceful."

• Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union will start on Tuesday, June 25.