Zelenskiy says a victorious Ukraine will be part of EU

(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that he believed his country would join the European Union after emerging victorious from its war with Russia.

“We are moving closer to the European Union. Ukraine will be a member of the European Union,” he said in an address to the European Parliament in Brussels, describing his country as “a Ukraine that is winning.”

Ukraine became a candidate to join the EU last June but the process of joining the 27-nation bloc takes several years.

Zelenskiy said Kyiv and its European partners were defending themselves against what he cast as historic aggression from Russia.

“Europe, we are defending ourselves against the biggest anti-European force of the modern world,” he said. “We, Ukrainians, on the battlefield, together with you.”

Zelenskiy also thanked Ukraine’s allies for the military and humanitarian aid they have provided since Russia’s invasion in February last year, which has included air strikes on the country’s critical infastructure.

“I thank everyone who helps Ukraine with the essentials: weapons and ammunition, energy equipment and fuel, thousands of things without which we couldn’t make it amid total war.”

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)