Ukraine hoping for EU candidate status in weeks: Zelensky

Ukraine is hoping to receive within weeks candidate country status for joining the European Union, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday as he met with the EU's envoy to Ukraine in Kyiv.

Zelensky handed the envoy, Matti Maasikas, two volumes in response to a membership questionnaire brought by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Ukraine this month.

"We believe that we will receive support for this work, become a candidate for admission, and then the next final stage will begin," Zelensky told Maasikas, according to a video of the meeting on social media.

"We really believe that this procedure will take place in the coming weeks," he said, adding that "our people ... mentally have been in Europe for a long time".

Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said that Ukraine was hoping to receive candidate status following a summit of EU leaders in June.

"Next, accession negotiations should begin, which should take place under an accelerated procedure.

"Ukraine will be in the EU," he wrote.

Ukraine has ramped up its bid to join the European Union since Russian forces invaded on February 24.

EU leaders have voiced support for Ukraine's ambitions but have not committed to any timetable and have expressed scepticism about speeding up a process that usually takes years.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he hopes for Ukraine to be recognised as a candidate country within weeks in his bid to join the EU.

Mr Zelensky made the comments on Monday as he returned a completed questionnaire on European Union membership to an envoy, seeking to jump-start a process that typically takes years if not decades.

The questionnaire had been hand-delivered to Mr Zelensky by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen just ten days ago as she visited Kyiv.

Matti Maasikas, the Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, tweeted: “Another step on Ukraine’s EU path. Honoured to receive from (Mr Zelensky) the answers to the EU Commission questionnaire.”

The Estonian-born diplomat added: “Extraordinary times take extraordinary steps and extraordinary speed.”

“We strongly believe that this procedure (granting of candidate status) will take place in the coming weeks and that it will be positive for the history of our people, given the price they paid on the path to independence and democracy,” Mr Zelensky said.

The nation’s move towards closer relations with the EU and the West following a 2014 revolution has been considered a key factor in Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade.

Ukraine hopes that it will be granted candidate status in June during a scheduled meeting of the European Council, which comprises leaders of the 27 EU member states.

The European Commission, the EU executive body, will need to issue a recommendation on Ukraine’s compliance with the necessary membership criteria.

As a candidate country, Ukraine would start negotiations on aligning its laws with the legal framework of the European Union.

However, the move to become a full EU member could take years to proceed, and would require unanimous support across the bloc.