War in Ukraine
Zelenskyj insists on Ukraine joining the EU as early as 2027
Updated on January 27, 2026 – 3:00 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Ukrainian President Zelensky is lobbying Austrian Chancellor Stöcker for Ukraine to quickly join the EU. He sees membership as a security guarantee for his country.
Despite widespread skepticism in European countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated his call for EU membership for his country as early as 2027. “Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is one of the most important security guarantees not only for us, but for all of Europe,” Zelensky said after a telephone conversation with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stöcker. “The common strength of Europe is possible thanks in particular to Ukrainian contributions in the areas of security, technology and economics.”
Although there is currently no prospect of accelerated EU accession for Ukraine and the procedures are usually lengthy, Zelensky emphasized that he is counting on the support of his partners. During negotiations to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, he repeatedly insists on security guarantees. Zelenskyj sees the USA as having a role here, as it also mediates between Ukrainians and Russians.
The Ukrainian president recently also stated that the US security guarantees had been negotiated. However, the prerequisite for the guarantees to come into force is an end to the war. For a ceasefire, Russia is demanding territorial concessions from Ukraine, in particular a withdrawal of Kiev’s troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – also known as Donbass.
The Financial Times reported that Washington was putting pressure on Kiev to agree to an agreement with Moscow. In return for giving up Donbass, the administration under US President Donald Trump is offering Ukraine not only security guarantees, but also equipping the army with weapons, the newspaper reported. There is no official confirmation for this line.
The trilateral talks between Ukrainians and Russians under US mediation that began at the weekend are scheduled to continue this Sunday in Abu Dhabi. Zelenskyj has suggested bringing the date forward. He also sees pressure to act given the difficult humanitarian situation in the country following the Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure and the mass power and heating outages.
In a telephone conversation with Chancellor Stöcker, Zelensky also thanked Austria for the help provided by Austria for the country’s energy industry. Ukraine has now been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for almost four years.
