Russia does not believe that the promises of the European Union to accept Ukraine into its ranks are “real”, Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said on Thursday, quoted by Reuters and France Presse.

“These are hardly real promises,” he said, answering a question from a Russian journalist who published fragments of the discussion on the Telegram application, Agerpres reports.

The European Commission recommended on Wednesday that Ukraine be invited to start negotiations to join the bloc once it meets the final conditions, even if it continues to fight against Russian forces.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the “good” decision of the Commission. “Our country should be in the EU. Ukrainians deserve it,” he said.

In June 2022, the EU granted candidate status to Ukraine, an extremely symbolic gesture just months after the start of the Russian offensive, as well as to the neighboring Republic of Moldova.

In order to proceed to the next stage – the opening of accession negotiations, the Commission identified seven benchmarks for Kyiv. These are the conditions that must be met, especially in the field of fighting corruption and judicial reform.

Ukraine has been eagerly waiting for this green wave at a time when its counteroffensive is stagnating and the war between Israel and Hamas is distracting the attention of its allies, AFP notes.

But the European Commission’s recommendation is far from marking the end of the road for Ukraine and other candidate countries.

The leaders of the 27 must decide on this opinion in mid-December at a summit in Brussels.

Putin will resume the traditional closing press conference

Among other things, a Kremlin spokesman announced Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his first major press conference in December after a war-related hiatus.

The round of questions and answers for journalists will be combined with a televised call called “Direct Line” where citizens can express their problems, Peskov told Russian news agency Interfax, DPA reports.

He did not name a specific date, but social networks mention December 19.

The media event is planned in the context of preparations for the presidential elections in March, when Putin is expected to run for a new mandate, DPA reports.

Last December, Putin canceled a news conference that would normally last several hours, for the first time in a decade.

Observers were convinced that Putin wanted to avoid questions from international journalists, as the Russian military has repeatedly suffered defeats in its all-out war against Ukraine.

Now Putin is slowly becoming more and more public.

Putin has repeatedly answered questions from journalists loyal to the party who accompany him on trips or meet with him in the Kremlin.

Independent mass media were not allowed to such meetings for a long time.

The last interview on “Live Line” was conducted on June 30, 2021.

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