Ukraine expects first two clusters on EU accession talks to be opened during Polish presidency - Sybiha

Kyiv expects the opening of negotiations on the first two clusters on EU membership, as well as the approval of the 15th package of sanctions, during the Polish presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2025.

This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha during a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Minister Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The Ukrainian minister, who spoke Polish at the press event, noted that Ukraine is counting on the support from the Polish presidency for the rapid opening of the Ukraine-EU negotiation process.

"We expect the rapid opening of the first and second clusters (fundamentals and the internal market) at the beginning of the Polish presidency," Sybiha emphasized.

He also expressed the Ukrainian side's expectations regarding the adoption of the 15th package of sanctions against Russia during the Polish presidency of the EU Council. He noted that for Ukraine, "the situation is unacceptable" where EU countries keep issuing hundreds of thousands of Schengen visas to Russian citizens.

"Russian citizens are a threat to the security of EU countries and we are convinced that it is time to restrict the issue of visas to Russian nationals," Sybiha stressed.

As reported earlier, Foreign Minister Sybiha believes Ukraine has Austria’s unconditional support on its path to the European Union membership.