Real negotiations on Ukraine's EU membership could start this year - advisor

VILNIUS - Negotiations on Ukraine's EU membership could start this year, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda's advisor on foreign policy says.

"Negotiations on EU membership could actually start this year. I think that the Polish presidency in the first half of this year will do its best to make this happen," Asta Skaisgiryte told the Ziniu Radijas news radio on Tuesday, adding that Ukraine seems determined to do its utmost to implement the reforms needed for EU membership.

Poland took over the rotating EU presidency from Hungary on January 1 and will hold it until the end of June, and Warsaw is expected to seek strong support for Kyiv during this period.

Ukraine's foreign ministry has said that Kyiv expects Poland's strong presidency.

Ukraine formally applied for EU membership in February 2022. The bloc agreed to start accession negotiations with Ukraine in December 2023, and they officially started last June.

Ukraine has been fighting Russian aggression since February 2022. US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to swiftly end the war, but is yet to make any specific proposals for a ceasefire or a peace agreement.

Both Russia and Ukraine are rushing to secure the best possible position on the battlefield ahead of Trump's inauguration on January 20.

In an interview last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said he hoped that Trump would be able to force Russia to enter peace talks and end the war in Ukraine.

Skaisgiryte, however, say Russia has shown no signs of wanting to come to the negotiating table.

"If Russia continues with this position, I don't see it seating at the negotiating table any time soon," she said. "America should, first of all, ensure that these arms volumes for Ukraine are maintained and perhaps even increased. Then there is a chance that Putin might be willing to come to the negotiating table."

Trump has called US support for Ukraine a waste of money and his aides have suggested that it could be used as leverage to force Ukraine to make territorial concessions to Russia.

Skaisgiryte also stressed that Kyiv's counter-offensive in Russia's Kursk region could be one of the factors in Ukraine's negotiating position.

"This is one of the factors. We have been saying this for some time that Russia is creating strategic dilemmas and the West is not. It is Ukraine that has proved with this attack that Ukraine is also creating strategic dilemmas for Russia. Would this be so significant that it would fundamentally change the course of the war? Well, maybe not yet, because the attacks in Kursk are quite localized," Skaisgiryte pointed out.