Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed similar optimism, calling it a “critical moment” for Ukraine. Ukraine’s bid is the top job for EU leaders meeting in Brussels. In an interview with the Associated Press, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said the decision could only be taken on Thursday, when the leaders’ summit begins. Stefanishyna said the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark were skeptical about starting accession talks with Ukraine, while Ukraine is fighting the Russian invasion, but is now supportive. Asked how confident she was that Ukraine would be accepted as an EU candidate, she said: “The day before the summit, I can say 100%. The EU executive’s weight was shed on Ukraine’s candidacy last week. Stefanishyna described the European Commission ratification as “a change of game” that cut the ground under “the feet of those who were more hesitant”. He described the decision as “crucial” for Ukraine and its struggle for survival against Russia, and said that the candidacy would validate the country’s decades-long efforts to bring its institutions and markets up to EU standards. “It is very important for us to reveal that we have done so much, and we will do much more,” Stefanishyna told the AP. “And in times of war – when everything works – it’s very important.” EU candidate status, which can only be granted if the existing Member States agree unanimously, is the first step on the road to accession. It does not provide any security guarantees or automatic right to join the block. but does not provide automatic block membership and does not imply any security guarantees. Ukraine’s full accession will depend on whether the war-torn country can meet political and economic conditions. Potential newcomers must prove that they meet the standards of democratic principles and must absorb 80,000 pages of rules that cover everything from trade and immigration to fertilizers and the rule of law. To help candidates, the block can provide technical and financial assistance. European officials say Ukraine has already implemented about 70% of EU rules, regulations and standards, but has also highlighted corruption and the need for deep political and economic reforms. In a fictitious conversation with Canadian university students on Wednesday, Zelensky described the Brussels summit as “two decisive days” that he also believed would lead to Ukraine becoming a candidate for EU membership. “It’s a very critical moment for us. “Some people in my group say that this is like going from light to darkness,” said the Ukrainian president. “As far as our army and society are concerned, this is a great motivation, a great motivation for the unity and victory of the Ukrainian people.” In other developments: Press Freedom Reporters Without Borders says a Ukrainian photojournalist and a accompanying soldier appear to have been “executed in cold blood” during the first weeks of the war in Ukraine as they searched the Russian-occupied forests for a lost drone. The team sent investigators to the forest north of the capital, Kiev, where the bodies of Maks Levin and soldier Oleksiy Chernyshov were found on April 1. The team said its team measured 14 bullet holes in the burnt cube of the couple’s car and found debris apparently left by Russian soldiers. “Russian forces have occupied three villages in the disputed eastern part of Ukraine,” a local official said. Governor Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the villages were a few miles from Lysychansk, the last town in the region still under full Ukrainian control. The Russians also captured a strategic coal village, Toshkivka, enabling them to intensify their attacks, Haidai said. Russian officials say a drone strike has set fire to an oil refinery in southwestern Russia on Wednesday. The fire affected a piece of machinery at the Novoshakhtinsk plant in the Rostov-on-Don region. Authorities said dozens of firefighters quickly contained the blaze and no one was injured. The factory said in a statement that the fire was caused by a strike by two drones, calling it a “terrorist” act. He gave no details, but the state-run Tass news agency reported that two Ukrainian drones flew over the plant and one hit a heat exchanger, causing the fire. Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed the strike. The Turkish Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that a Turkish ship had been allowed to leave the Russian-occupied port of Mariupol in the Azov Sea following talks between Turkish and Russian Defense Ministry officials. A ministry statement said the Turkish cargo ship, the Azov Concord, was the first foreign ship to be allowed to leave Mariupol. The ministry did not say what the truck was carrying. The war has halted critical grain exports by sea. Turkish and Russian military delegations met in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss a possible deal to send grain to Ukraine via the Black Sea. “The French Armed Forces have carried out a surprise military exercise in Estonia, deploying more than 100 paratroopers in the Baltic country bordering Russia, the French Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday. The airstrike, dubbed “Thunder Lynx”, allowed about 100 French paratroopers to be dropped “over an area secured by Estonian soldiers” in a short period of time, the statement said. The exercise in Estonia, a NATO ally, was carried out as an act of “strategic solidarity” in the midst of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sam Petrequin in Brussels, Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed.
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