Zelensky responds to Macron. Ukraine's president said on Saturday that any alternative to Ukraine's EU bid would be a "compromise" with Russia. A way of responding to the project of "European political community" proposed by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

"We don't need alternatives to Ukraine's EU candidacy, we don't need such compromises," Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press conference in Kyiv with the Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

“Because, believe us, it will not be compromises with Ukraine in Europe, it will be another compromise between Europe and Russia. I'm absolutely sure. It is the political and diplomatic influence and pressure of Russian officials and lobbyists on the decision of a European country whether or not to support Ukraine,” he continued.

Macron says Ukraine's EU membership would take 'decades'

French President Emmanuel Macron had presented the project of "the European political community" on May 9 before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in the midst of a debate on the launch of the process of accession of Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, February 24.

Emmanuel Macron then explained that it would take "decades" for Ukraine to join the EU, and suggested that in the meantime it be part of a "European political community", which could also include Great Britain, which has left the EU in 2020, or Moldova.

This project, which is to be discussed at a European summit at the end of June, has been criticized by some leaders, such as Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, for whom it would reflect a lack of will to quickly integrate Ukraine into the EU.