KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that the European Commission’s recommendation to open formal membership talks with Ukraine was the “right step” for Kyiv and Europe.

Ukraine, which staged a pro-EU revolution in 2014, has said that Moscow’s invasion should accelerate its accession process to the bloc.

“Today, the history of Ukraine and the whole of Europe has made the right step,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “Our country should be in the European Union,” he said.

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Kyiv launched its bid to become part of the European Union in the days after Moscow invaded in 2022, and was granted candidate status in June last year.

The EU, whose countries have been arming Ukraine against Russia, has pressed Kyiv on continuing with anti-corruption reforms needed for the accession process.

“Ukrainians deserve it both for their defense of European values and for the fact that even in times of full-scale war, we keep our word by developing state institutions,” Zelensky said, adding: “We are making all the necessary decisions.”

Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmygal said Kyiv will carry out the reforms required by the bloc.

“At the governmental level, we have implemented all seven recommendations of the European Commission,” Shmygal said on Telegram.

He added that Kyiv was “committed to the process of transformation of the state to make Ukraine an equal, strong and full member of the European Union.”