{"id":1389863,"date":"2026-06-16T19:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/?p=1389863"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:19:24","slug":"ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine needs fast-track EU accession to prevent Russian interference \u2014 Zelenskyy"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine requires an accelerated path to European Union membership, warning that any prolonged delay after the war could allow Russia to obstruct the country’s European integration.<\/p>\n

Speaking via video link at the Reuters NEXT<\/a> conference on June 16, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine needs faster and more flexible accession mechanisms due to the extraordinary circumstances created by Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion,\u00a0UATV English<\/a>\u00a0reports.<\/p>\n

The president thanked German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for supporting Ukraine\u2019s aspirations to join the European Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, I am very grateful to Friedrich for his support. He is on our side. He understands that Ukraine is counting on an accelerated path, something like that,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At the same time, he acknowledged that not all European leaders support the idea of a fast-tracked accession process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that not all leaders like this format \u2014 an accelerated path \u2014 because they want very clear and transparent steps for everyone. But with all due respect, we are not like everyone else. We are at war, and we need more creative and faster decisions. We really need that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to Zelenskyy, postponing Ukraine\u2019s accession process would create significant risks for the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise, if there is a long pause on our path to the EU after this war, everything will be the same as it was with NATO. Russia will find a way to block Ukraine\u2019s path to the European Union,\u201d the president warned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He added that Moscow is not interested in seeing a successful Ukraine and is even less willing to see Ukraine become part of the European family.<\/p>\n

For that reason, Zelenskyy argued that Ukraine needs an accelerated accession process while ultimately aiming for full EU membership rather than intermediate formats.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed speeding up Ukraine\u2019s integration into the European Union by introducing an initial form of associated membership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine requires an accelerated path to European Union …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":1366068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36418,13,49,36415],"tags":[72926,78,72925],"sources":[],"class_list":["post-1389863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-11473-news-en-2","category-news","category-news-en","category-11473-news-en","tag-ukraine-s-allies-aid","tag-homepage-en","tag-zelenskyy-in-europe"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUkraine needs fast-track EU accession to prevent Russian interference \u2014 Zelenskyy - Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ukraine needs fast-track EU accession to prevent Russian interference \u2014 Zelenskyy - Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine requires an accelerated path to European Union ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T16:44:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/zelensky_event_1300x750_55f7c614c3bb45b78c1fe461936f66f2-820x473.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0428\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0428\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0428\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ec05b64cb7957f2edee871ad21ea2da9\"},\"headline\":\"Ukraine needs fast-track EU accession to prevent Russian interference \u2014 Zelenskyy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T16:44:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/\"},\"wordCount\":324,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/zelensky_event_1300x750_55f7c614c3bb45b78c1fe461936f66f2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ukraine\u2019s Allies & Aid\",\"\u041d\u0430 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0443\u044e (\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0434\u0435\u0440)\",\"Zelenskyy in Europe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economics\",\"\u041d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438\",\"News\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-needs-fast-track-eu-accession-to-prevent-russian-interference-zelenskyy\/\",\"name\":\"Ukraine needs fast-track EU accession to prevent Russian interference \u2014 Zelenskyy - 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