WASHINGTON-
The top US diplomat for European and Eurasian affairs expressed optimism about Ukraine’s admission to the European Union, despite threats from Hungary to veto kyiv’s request.
The issue will be considered at a two-day EU summit starting on Thursday.
The senior official also suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “wait” for the results of the 2024 European elections and the US presidential election before making peace in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Under Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien discussed the problems of the Eurasian region in a conversation with the head of the Voice of America bureau at the State Department, Nike Ching.
“(Putin) believes his path to victory is to reduce support for Ukraine,” O’Brien said.
Without commenting on US domestic politics, O’Brien said: “It is clear that if President Biden is re-elected, Putin’s hopes will be dashed.”
The heads of EU countries will this week discuss the feasibility of starting formal negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the bloc. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russia’s closest ally in the EU, threatened to veto the measure.
“It is clear that all 27 members of the union are strongly in favor of its expansion, including to Ukraine when it is ready, and of continued financial support. (Orban) is one voice, and we will see how the discussions between the leaders progress on the decision they make,” O’Brien told VOA.
O’Brien also welcomed the exchange of prisoners between Azerbaijan and Armenia at their border on Wednesday, calling it a significant step towards “building normal bilateral relations” between the two countries after decades of conflict.
A deputy secretary of state said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington this week was “very useful.”
“We see that Ukraine has returned more than half of the territory seized by Russia since February 2022,” he said. “She continues to advance on the battlefield. She has opened her own trade routes in the Black Sea, and this is key to economic recovery. With the help that our European partners will provide and that we will provide, we believe that Ukraine will be able to build on this success and emerge victorious from this war.”
“This will leave Ukraine well poised to get rich and its population eager to join the European Union and transatlantic organizations like NATO. “This is all good from the standpoint of American security and prosperity,” O’Brien said.