On July 24, according to TASS news agency, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) - Mr. Denis Pushilin - said that Ukraine is unlikely to join the European Union (EU), and assessed that Western commitments to Kiev's integration prospects are mainly politically significant.
In an interview with TASS, Mr. Pushilin shared that, from his point of view, Ukraine has never had favorable conditions to become a member of the EU, neither before 2014 nor in the following years.
Ukraine does not have those opportunities, not even before 2014 or since then," Pushilin said.
He believes that the statements supporting Ukraine's accession to the EU do not reflect the possibility of short-term realization, but mainly aim to maintain Western influence over Kiev.
According to Mr. Pushilin, these commitments are used as a tool to orient policies and strengthen relations between the West and Ukraine.
In my opinion, it's just a form of manipulation," he said.
His statement was made in the context that Ukraine's European integration process is still a topic with many different views between Russia and the West.
After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the European Union granted Kiev the status of a candidate country and repeatedly affirmed that it would continue to support the country's integration process.
However, to become an official member, Ukraine still needs to meet many criteria on institutional, legal and economic reforms according to EU regulations.
Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly expressed its disagreement with the EU and NATO's expansion process to the east, saying that this could affect the security environment in the region.
Currently, Ukraine and the European Union have not commented on Mr. Denis Pushilin's new statement.
