Russia's Stance on Ukraine's EU and NATO Membership

On local Tuesday (February 18), Kremlin spokesman Peskov said that whether Ukraine joins the EU is its sovereign right, and Russia will not interfere in this, but opposes Ukraine's accession to NATO.

When asked if Ukraine would join the EU one day, Peskov said, "This is the sovereign right of any country."

"We are talking about the process of integration and economic integration. Of course, in this regard, no country has the right to dictate to any other country, and we will not do so either," Peskov said.

However, Peskov added that Russia's stance is different when it comes to Ukraine's accession to military alliances.

"Of course, Russia's stance is completely different on security issues related to defense or military alliances," Peskov said.

Peskov was referring to Russia's attitude towards Ukraine's accession to NATO. Russia has previously stated that it will not accept Ukraine's accession to NATO, nor will it accept NATO's deployment of peacekeeping forces to Ukraine after the cease - fire between Russia and Ukraine.

Due to the increasingly unfavorable situation on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Zelensky has softened his stance on territory, but he still insists that Ukraine must join NATO to obtain security guarantees.

At the NATO summit in July last year, NATO said that Ukraine will eventually join the military alliance, and this is an irreversible path. However, NATO did not specify a specific timeline for Ukraine's accession.

With Trump's return as the US President, the resistance to Ukraine's accession to NATO has further increased. Trump said bluntly last week that Ukraine's accession to NATO is "unrealistic".

In contrast, it is much easier for Ukraine to join the EU, but it is not without challenges.

Shortly after the Russia - Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022, Ukraine applied to join the EU and was granted the status of an EU candidate country in June of that year. In June last year, the EU held its first ministerial - level inter - governmental meeting with Ukraine, marking the official start of Ukraine's accession negotiations.

Joining the EU has strict thresholds and requires meeting certain standards in law, economy, and democracy. This process usually takes several years or even longer.

Countries including Albania, Serbia, and Turkey have been waiting for many years but still have not become full - fledged EU members. The last time the EU admitted a new member was in 2013, when Croatia officially joined the EU on July 1st of that year.