BRUSSELS: The European Union launched membership talks with Ukraine today, a decade after Russian troops seized Crimean Peninsula to deter the country from moving closer to the West, part of a chain of events that set the two neighbours on the path to war.
Ukraine’s accession negotiations were set in motion at an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg.
In opening remarks presented via video-link, Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal described it as “a historic day” that marks “a new chapter” in his country’s ties with the bloc. The talks could take years to conclude.