Ukraine's Zelensky pledges clear timetable of talks on EU membership

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged on Thursday that Ukraine would keep to a clear timetable in talks on joining the European Union and in sticking to its

obligations with the 27-nation bloc.



Zelenskiy was speaking a day after the EU's rotating presidency under Cyprus said it had started preparing to open negotiations on the first group of negotiating chapters with Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova. The first chapter covers rule-of-law and democratic standards.



"We will have a very clear schedule for moving forward in these talks, especially after changes in Hungary," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.



"We have kept to the schedule and now in June we very much expect the opening of (negotiating) clusters for which Ukraine has prepared. We have done our part of the work. The next step is up to the European Union."



Agreement to proceed with the talks followed an announcement by Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar that his country had reached an agreement with Kiev on the rights of Ukraine's 100,000-strong ethnic Hungarian community.