EU summit: Leaders discuss Ukraine, global issues
06/19/2026 June 19, 2026 Zelenskyy urges EU leaders to fast-track Ukraine's membership Addressing an EU summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the future of Europe
06/19/2026 June 19, 2026 Zelenskyy urges EU leaders to fast-track Ukraine's membership Addressing an EU summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the future of Europe was being decided with the defense of Ukraine. He also stressed that the best guarantee for the future would be to grant Kyiv fast-track EU membership. "The future of Europe — free, united, and in peace — is being decided in our defense.
That shows how unique our situation is," Zelenskyy said in excerpts of the address posted on X. "The most important such step could be a fast-track path for Ukraine to join the EU," he added. This week, the European Council agreed to open the first cluster of chapters in the accession negotiations with Ukraine.
The goal now, according to an EU official, is to open all the other clusters as soon as possible. The official said all the EU’s efforts are aimed at strengthening Ukraine and putting pressure on Russia in view of future peace negotiations. Zelenskyy, however, stressed that Europe's security
depended on securing funding for Ukraine's military: "We need to provide long-term security guarantees for Europe, and that means long-term financial guarantees for the Ukrainian army." He added that the EU and the "coalition of willing" countries supporting it could develop the financial instruments to ensure that funding.
The BriefWire