The European Union’s 27 leaders could decide at a summit this week whether to launch formal membership talks with Ukraine, a step that would provide a much-needed boost for Kyiv amid uncertainty over the future of vital wartime foreign assistance/

The Reuters report discusses the upcoming EU Council meeting on December 14-15 which aims to decide on the start of accession negotiations between the EU and Ukraine and politically assess the readiness of Ukraine to move forward on the European integration track.

Leonid Litra, Senior Research Fellow of the New Europe Center, said Ukraine’s rapid progress is aimed at keeping Kyiv “on the safe side” by providing sceptics as few excuses as possible to block Ukraine’s bid.

Also the expert said that the Western Balkans’ protracted membership process shows accession is not always merit-based and equally dependent on intra-bloc politics.

“We need all the stars to align, basically”, – summed up Leonid Litra.

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