German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who came to the Palace of Versailles in France for the EU Leaders’ Summit, stated that he did not support Ukraine’s demand for rapid accession to the European Union (EU). Referring to the 2017 Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine to deepen political and economic relations with Ukraine, Scholz said, “This is the path we have to follow with Ukraine.” Stating that it is already difficult to take unanimous decisions on foreign, economic and financial policy issues in the EU with 27 countries on Ukraine, Scholz said, “The EU should continue to develop in the perspective of making decisions and fulfilling the majority decisions until now.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy applied for EU membership last week and requested a special procedure, due to Russia’s war against his country.