The European Union is opening its first formal cluster of accession negotiations with Ukraine, a milestone that seemed almost unthinkable four years ago when Russian tanks were rolling toward Kyiv. EU ambassadors voted unanimously on June 13, 2026, to greenlight the talks, which are set to begin in Luxembourg on or around June 16.
Moldova will join Ukraine at the table. The negotiations will focus on rule of law, democratic institutions, and alignment with core EU values.
How we got here
Ukraine applied for EU membership on February 28, 2022, just days after Russia’s full-scale invasion began. By June 2022, the EU had granted Ukraine official candidate status.
The first intergovernmental conference to formally launch accession negotiations took place on June 25, 2024. That kicked off a screening process of the EU acquis, the massive body of EU law that candidate countries must eventually adopt. That screening wrapped up in September 2025.
