Zelenskyy Tells EU Leaders Time Is Right for Ukraine Accession Talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European Union leaders on Friday that the time is right to begin Ukraine’s formal accession process. In a letter, he rejected a proposal for associate membership, saying it would leave Ukraine without voting rights and unable to advance its interests.

Zelenskyy’s letter follows the ouster last month of Hungary’s former prime minister Viktor Orban, whose government had repeatedly blocked steps toward Ukrainian membership. Kyiv has stepped up its diplomatic campaign since the change in Budapest.

Russian authorities reported that a strike on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled town of Starobilsk killed 12 people and injured 36 others. Russia’s emergency ministry said nine people remained trapped under debris and that Vladimir Putin had ordered a response.

Kyiv denied striking the dormitory and said its target was an elite drone command unit. Zelenskyy stated on Telegram that Ukrainian forces also struck the Metafrax Chemical plant in Russia’s Perm region, halting production that supplies military facilities.

Ukraine additionally hit an oil refinery in Yaroslavl and caused a fire at an oil terminal in Novorossiysk, injuring two people. Zelenskyy said on X that Ukrainian forces have retaken 590 square kilometers of territory since January.

Zelenskyy said Russia has suffered about 86,000 soldiers killed, 59,000 seriously injured, and 800 taken prisoner since the start of 2026. He added that these losses, combined with sanctions, are pushing Moscow toward negotiations. Ukrainian officials have warned that Russian forces may be preparing a new offensive after regrouping along the front line.