KYIV
\nEU chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Ukraine on Saturday to discuss with President Volodymyr Zelensky his country\u2019s bid to get candidacy status to join the European Union.
\nWhile Kyiv has been pushing for rapid admission into the European Union, officials and leaders in the bloc have cautioned that the road to membership is a long one, which can take years or decades.
\nUkraine sees the prospect of joining the EU as a way of reducing its geopolitical vulnerability, which has been exposed by Russia\u2019s war inside its borders.
\n\u201cWith President Zelensky I will take stock of the joint work needed for reconstruction and of the progress made by Ukraine on its European path,\u201d von der Leyen tweeted on arrival in Kyiv.
\nShe told a group of journalists travelling with her, including AFP, that the discussions \u201cwill feed into our assessment\u201d of Ukraine\u2019s readiness to be considered a candidate country to begin lengthy negotiations, including needed reforms.
\nThat assessment by her commission will be presented \u201csoon,\u201d she said.
\nEU commissioners and officials are expected to pore over Ukraine\u2019s bid next week, ahead of a June 23-24 summit that will likely take up the matter.
\nVon der Leyen\u2019s trip to Kyiv was her second since the Russian invasion in late February.
\nHer last one, on April 8, was to hand Zelensky a questionnaire his officials needed to fill out to provide details that would help inform the European Commission\u2019s opinion it has to give to the European Council, representing the EU\u2019s 27 member states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV EU chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Ukraine on Saturday to discuss with President Volodymyr Zelensky his country\u2019s bid to get candidacy status to join the European Union. While Kyiv has been pushing for rapid admission into the European Union, officials and leaders in the bloc have cautioned that the road to membership is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8447,8446,456,8448,606],"class_list":{"0":"post-265807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-eu-chief","9":"tag-join-bloc","10":"tag-ukraine","11":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","12":"tag-visit"},"yoast_head":"\n