The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that Brussels intends to present a framework for negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU by "early summer," UNN reports with reference to AFP.
In December, European leaders agreed to start membership talks with Kyiv, a historic step after almost two years of Russia's war against the country.
In order for the European Union and Ukraine to begin negotiations, the executive branch, headed by von der Leyen, must develop a framework for negotiations that must be approved by all 27 EU member states.
Von der Leyen said that her "best guess" is that the framework will not be ready for the European Parliament elections in June.
"It will take time. But I think we will be ready around summer, early summer," von der Leyen told reporters.
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Ukraine and its strongest supporters in the EU are pushing for faster negotiations.
In December, Brussels said that Ukraine must fulfill conditions set a year ago on issues such as judicial reforms and the fight against corruption in order to move to the next step.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the EU's most pro-Russian leader, has repeatedly spoken out against Ukraine's membership application, although he allowed the decision to start negotiations in December.