EU Commission president refuses to name specific date for Ukraine's accession

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said it is impossible to set a specific date for Ukraine's accession to the EU, while saying Kyiv is on a "good way" towards membership.

"I must say, Ukraine is outstanding in the speed of which it fulfills the necessary reforms. These are tough reforms, not easy reforms. You need to convince many people to go for it, to modernise for the benefit of the country. And it is deeply impressive to see the enormous progress Ukraine is making despite fighting a war for their survival," von der Leyen said.

Von der Leyen added that the EU would continue to encourage Ukraine to carry out rapid reforms on its path to membership. However, she said setting dates in this matter is impossible.

Asked whether Ukraine could join the EU by 2027, she said: "I understand very well that for you a clear date is also important. The date you set is your benchmark that you want to match. You know that from our side, dates by themselves are not possible. But of course, the support that you can reach your goal is absolutely clear on our side."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the European Union to stop delaying and to formally set a date for Ukraine's accession to the union, so that for the next 50 years Russia could not block its membership.

In December 2025, Ukraine and the EU launched substantive accession talks bypassing Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Ukraine has now received critically important documents from the EU, under which Brussels will assess whether Kyiv has met accession requirements.

Read more about the planned fast track EU enlargement scheme: Bringing Ukraine into the EU by 2027: exploring the idea of "membership-lite" as part of a peace deal.