No 'fast Track' For Ukraine To Join EU, President Zelenskiy: This Is Not What We Were Waiting For

Presiden Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy. (Wikimedia Commons / Ing.Mgr.Jozef Kotulič)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy expressed his dissatisfaction with the various opinions of EU member states regarding Ukraine's accelerated accession to the bloc.

"How do we assess the decisions made [in the EU Thursday]? It needs to be stronger. This is not what we were waiting for," he said in a video speech published Friday, TASS reported March 12.

President Zelensky claimed "the decisions of politicians need to coincide with the sentiments of their people," expressing his assurance that the vast majority of EU citizens support Ukraine's membership.

Further, the Ukrainian leader claimed he expected a "new sanctions decision" from international partners "today."

It is known, at the end of February, President Zelenskiy asked the European Union to immediately accept Ukraine. On March 1, Head of the Presidential Office Andrey Yermak revealed that the application for the expediting procedure had been received, registered, and is being reviewed.

As previously reported, EU leaders gathered on Thursday to agree on a common response to the war in Ukraine, with differing views on how far economic sanctions will go, how quickly to cut Russia's energy imports, and whether to let Kyiv join their bloc with fast or not.

"We want a free and democratic Ukraine with whom we share the same destiny," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a show of sympathy and moral support, cited from Reuters.

But other leaders have made clear that Ukraine will not be allowed to join them immediately, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been trying to do and which has the support of Ukraine's eastern neighbors.

"There is no fast-track procedure," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a major opponent of EU expansion.

Meeting at the luxurious Palace of Versailles outside Paris, EU leaders are treading a fine line between wanting to support Ukraine and avoiding the risk of being sucked into a war with nuclear-armed Russia.

"Can we open membership procedures with countries that are at war? I don't think so. Can we close the door and say: 'no'? That's not fair. Let's be careful," said French President Emmanuel Macron.