Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday said he had signed an official request for Ukraine to join the European Union.
Zelenskiy has asked the European Union to allow Ukraine to gain membership immediately under a special procedure as it defends itself from invasion by Russian forces.
Zelenskiy posted photos of himself signing the EU application, a largely symbolic move that could take years to become reality and is unlikely to sit well with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long accused the West of trying to pull Ukraine into its orbit.
His office says the paperwork is on its way to Brussels, where the 27-nation EU is headquartered.
Meanwhile, a top adviser to Ukraine's president says the first round of talks with Russia about ending the fighting in Ukraine has concluded, and more talks could happen soon.
Russian and Ukrainian officials held their meeting on Day Five of the war under the shadow of Putin's nuclear threats, and with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine running into unexpectedly fierce resistance.
The adviser said that both delegations had returned home for consultations in their capitals.
Mykhailo Podolyak gave few details except to say that the talks, held near the Ukraine-Belarus border, were focused on a possible cease-fire and that a second round could take place in the near future.
At this stage, Ukraine is many years away from reaching the standards for achieving EU membership, and the 27-nation bloc is expansion-weary and unlikely to take on new members any time soon.
Also, any addition to the EU must be approved unanimously, and some member states have complicated approval procedures.
Overall, the consensus has been that Ukraine's deep-seated corruption could make it hard for the country to win EU acceptance.
Still, in an interview with Euronews on Sunday, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said, We want them in the European Union.
(With Reuters and AP inputs)
