Financial Times has reported that the version of a peace proposal submitted by Ukrainian and European officials to Washington includes a clause stating that Ukraine must become a member of the European Union by 1 January 2027.

Source: European Pravda, citing Financial Times

Details: The plan is a revised version of proposals from the Trump administration on ending the war. The latest draft has emerged as Donald Trump is stepping up pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to a "peace deal".

"EU accession [by Ukraine] by 1 January 2027 is specified in the latest draft of a peace proposal that Ukrainian and European officials have presented to Washington", Financial Times writes, citing people familiar with the document, without specifying which European actors support such radically accelerated accession.

Officials who support Ukraine's EU ambitions have said that the European Commission now understands that it should not derail the peace process by arguing against fast-track membership for Kyiv. Meanwhile, Ukraine has not yet completed even one of the 36 chapters of its accession talks with the EU and such a timetable would break the Union's "merit-based" approach to admitting new members.

People familiar with the peace plan have said that it would force Brussels to rethink the entire enlargement process, including issues such as when new members gain access to EU funds and voting rights.

US support for the plan would mean Donald Trump could compel Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has so far blocked Ukraine's accession process, to lift his veto.

Background:

• On 11 December, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's future EU membership depends on the Europeans, but also on the Americans.
• On 11 December, at the informal meeting in Lviv of the EU's General Affairs Council, the EU announced the launch of frontloading, a new format of technical talks with Ukraine that would not be vulnerable to a Hungarian veto.
• Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, is convinced that unblocking technical negotiations with the EU will allow the process to be completed faster than the European Commission requests.

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