Zelenskyy urges EU to open all six accession clusters within weeks and speed €90bn aid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that, after discussions with European Council President António Costa, Ukraine expects all six clusters in its European Union accession talks to open within weeks, while also pressing for a newly approved 90 billion euro ($97 billion) EU support package to start moving quickly before winter.

In a post on his official Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is counting on the opening of all six negotiation clusters “during this and next months” and that “technically Ukraine is fully ready.” That is Kyiv’s expectation, not a confirmed EU decision. While EU enlargement officials said in March that Ukraine and Moldova had “technically opened” the six clusters, the formal political opening is a separate step that requires agreement by EU member states in the Council, and that process has been slowed by objections from Hungary.

Zelenskyy also thanked Costa for his support and for what he described as Costa’s personal efforts to help unblock the EU’s 90 billion euro support package for Ukraine. He said it was important for the money to begin arriving quickly so the country could prepare for winter. EU leaders agreed the 2026-2027 package in December 2025, and the European Parliament approved it in February. The Council then completed key legal and implementing steps through February, March and April, including a finalizing move on April 23, while the European Commission has also taken preparatory implementation steps. That means the package has been politically agreed and legally advanced, though the timing of actual disbursements still depends on administrative follow-through.

The six-cluster system comes from the EU’s revised accession process, which groups 33 negotiating chapters into six thematic areas instead of opening chapters one by one. The distinction matters because the technical stage refers to screening and preparatory work being completed to the point where talks can move forward. The formal opening, however, is a political decision by EU governments. Ukraine’s message on Monday was that it has done the preparatory work and now wants the bloc to convert that into formal action.

Costa, as president of the European Council, convenes EU leaders and works to build consensus among member states, making him a key figure as Kyiv tries to turn technical progress into political approval. The issue has been on the agenda for months. Zelenskyy met Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv on Feb. 24, when EU membership talks and the support package were among the subjects discussed. In a report on that meeting from the Office of the President of Ukraine, Costa said, “The future of Ukraine is in the European Union. A successful, democratic Ukraine in the European Union is also a security guarantee for all of Europe, and this is one of the key elements of the peace process.”

Monday’s statement amounted to a public push from Kyiv on two fronts at once: accelerating the political decision needed to open the accession clusters and speeding up delivery of EU financial support already approved in principle. Ukraine is signaling that, in its view, the technical work is done and the legal groundwork for the aid package is largely in place. The next test is whether EU governments move on the accession clusters and whether the support money starts reaching Ukraine quickly enough for winter preparations.