Ukrainians!
Unbreakable people of our country!
Today, we have taken another step - a very important and not just a formal step - on our path to the European Union. Ukraine has submitted the second part of the answers to a special questionnaire to be completed by each country aspiring to be part of the European Union. It usually takes months. But we did everything in a few weeks. This is a document that contains thousands of pages.
And it was today that I held talks about our European integration with both Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. I thanked them on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people for their support for our country. For attention to our needs and especially now - in this difficult time of war.
They are well aware that this war is not only for our freedom, but also for the freedom of all Europeans. Mrs. Ursula said she was impressed with the speed with which our government officials filled out the questionnaire. And I was glad to hear from her that our speed encourages the European Commission to act just as quickly. We expect to receive a positive response in June regarding the acquisition of EU candidate status by our country.
I also thanked the President of the European Commission for the work on creating a Trust Fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, after the victory. And for the efforts needed to agree on a new package of sanctions on Russia.
President Charles Michel visited our Odesa today. He saw with his own eyes what the blocked sea means. For the first time in decades there is no usual movement of the merchant fleet, no usual port functioning in Odesa. Probably this has never happened in Odesa since World War II.
Ordinary life related to the sea is blocked by Russia. Exactly Russia. And this affects not only Ukraine.
