BRUSSELS, October 22. /TASS/. Ukraine wants to open accession negotiations with the EU on the two remaining clusters in December, believing that it will be much harder to do so in 2027 due to upcoming elections in EU member states, where Ukraine-related issues are unpopular, Politico reported.

The outlet quoted Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Vsevolod Chentsov as saying that "It’s good to finish this" later this year, because next year "it gets super difficult politically." Ukraine is looking to a European Council meeting in mid-December "as an ideal date" to make that decision, he said.

Meanwhile, the European Commission’s roadmaps for candidate countries do not reflect Ukraine’s "progress on internal reforms," the senior Ukrainian official told Politico.