EU grants Ukraine candidate status in 'historic moment'EU grants Ukraine candidate status in 'historic moment'

• Ukraine became a candidate to join the European Union on Thursday, a bold geopolitical step triggered by Russia's invasion that Kyiv and Brussels hailed as an "historic moment". 
• Starting on the long path to EU membership will be a huge boost to morale in the embattled country, as Russian assaults on two cities in the eastern Donbas region move toward a "fearsome climax", according to a Ukrainian government adviser. 
• "Ukraine's future is in the EU," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter after the official announcement. 
• "A historic moment," European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted, adding: "Our future is together." 
• The approval of the Kyiv government's application by EU leaders meeting in Brussels will anger Russia as it struggles to impose its will on Ukraine. Moldova also became an official candidate on Thursday, signalling the bloc's intention to reach deep into the former Soviet Union. 
• Diplomats say it will take Ukraine a decade or more to meet the criteria for joining the EU. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was convinced that Ukraine and Moldova will move as swiftly as possible to implement necessary reforms. 
• Their move to join the EU runs alongside applications by Sweden and Finland to enter NATO in the wake of the Russian invasion - indications that the Kremlin's military actions have backfired on its geopolitical aims.

(Source: Reuters)