Joe Biden says Ukraine 'very likely' to join EU as West backs candidate status for Kyiv

US President Joe Biden on Monday predicted that Ukraine is “very likely” to join the European Union (EU) as he informed that he probably will not visit the war-torn nation anytime soon as he prepares for a Europe trip. While talking to reporters in Delaware, Biden talked about the possibility of EU membership for Kyiv after the European Commission on Friday voted to make Ukraine a bloc candidate.

Biden said, “I think that’s very likely to happen”.

However, when the US President was asked about his plans to visit Ukraine amid war with Russia, Biden said “that depends” on “a lot of things relating to whether or not it causes more difficulty for the Ukrainians, whether it distracts from what’s going on.” The US President also noted that “I have been meeting with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky – I talk to him three, four times a week.”

Biden then went on to say that he is “not likely” to visit Ukraine citing his scheduled trips to Germany, Spain, Israel and Saudi Arabia. It is to mention here that while Biden mentioned his frequent calls with Zelenskyy, the White House issued the last readout of calls between both presidents on June 15. Prior to that, Biden and Zelenksyy held talks when they joined a Group of Seven (G7) leaders in a conference call on May 8.  

Russia ‘very nervous’ as Ukraine awaits the EU’s answer on candidacy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said that the looming decision on Ukraine's candidacy in the European Union is making Russia "very nervous".  As Russia continued its "brutal offensive actions" in the western, eastern, and southern districts of the war-torn country, Zelenskyy during his usual nightly address on Monday stated that the whole region of Kharkiv, Odesa, and Donbas "is the most difficult as there are the hardest battles."   

"The next days of the week will also be busy. We are moving toward the main decision of the European Council, which will be adopted on Friday...As I predicted, Russia is very nervous about our activity,” Zelenskyy said. 

Earlier, the European Commission had recommended granting Ukraine the candidate status to join the bloc which amounted to a diplomatic blow for the Kremlin. In view of this, Zelenskyy on Sunday predicted that Russia would intensify attacks and even warned the European partners that they should gear up for increased hostilities by Moscow. 

In his nightly address on Sunday night, Zelenskyy said, “Tomorrow a historic week begins…There have been few such fateful decisions for Ukraine.”

“And in such a week, we should expect greater hostile activity from Russia. And not only against Ukraine, but also against other European countries. We are preparing. We are ready. We warn partners,” he added.

Image: AP