“He’d better keep his mouth shut”: tension is rising between Zelensky and EU leaders – FT

Relations between Volodymyr Zelensky and the leadership of the European Union are becoming more strained because of the pressure being exerted by the Ukrainian president, who is demanding that Ukraine’s admission to the EU be accelerated.

This is reported by the Financial Times, citing seven officials who attended the recent EU summit in Cyprus with Zelensky’s participation.

According to them, Zelensky there “had to hear several hard truths” from EU leaders. He was told that “everything will not be as simple as he thinks.” He was also told that anti-corruption efforts and reforms in Ukraine have weakened.

“We are the only friends he has left, so perhaps he would be better off keeping his mouth shut,” one official said.

“Their internal reform momentum has stalled. That is bad, and everyone knows it,” another source noted.

“Membership is not a gift. Perhaps there is some misunderstanding of that in Kyiv,” said yet another official.

“They say: ‘You owe us.’ And that does not help,” a fourth added.

“We have a real problem there. Zelensky and his circle have never really understood how the enlargement process works,” said another official.

Zelensky has instructed his diplomats not even to discuss proposals for symbolic benefits on the path to the EU, but to demand only full membership. The president intends to continue defending his maximalist position, expecting that the EU will eventually “become more realistic” and move closer to Ukraine’s stance.