EU-Ukraine summit scheduled to take place in Brussels

The 22nd EU-Ukraine Summit will take place in Brussels today.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Council President Charles Michel will host the summit, the first to be held in person rather than virtually since the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic. They are set to sign a number of agreements to tighten economic and security cooperation between the bloc and the Eastern-European nation as well as discuss the implementation of the 2014 Association Agreement, which initiated Ukraine’s integration into European institutions. 

Expect disagreements about Ukraine’s failure to implement sufficient anti-corruption measures to surface throughout the talks. Ukraine’s Constitutional Court gutted the National Anti-Corruption Bureau in September, prompting criticism from the EU. Furthermore, Zelensky’s willingness to court Russia for a speedy end to the separatist conflict in Eastern Ukraine unnerves European leaders. 

There is little the EU can do to alter Ukraine’s trajectory. The agreements to be signed today, aiding post office digitization, energy efficiency and COVID-19 relief will only make marginal progress in the joint relationship. Expect Ukraine to continue drifting out of EU orbit as its stalled anti-corruption efforts prevent further integration and investment.

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