"It's important to support Ukraine, but we have rules and we have to respect them," insisted the deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs and foreign trade, Xavier Bettel (DP), on Thursday 29 January, as he left the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union (FAC) in Brussels.

He was reacting to new statements by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who this week raised the possibility of Ukraine joining the European Union in 2027. I'm sorry," he said. I've told him several times not to give ultimatums, it's not in his interest. The fact is that there are rules, the Copenhagen criteria, and we have to respect them. You can't say that there are criteria for some and not for others", the former Luxembourg Prime Minister replied.

A view shared by the German chancellor: "We can gradually bring Ukraine closer to the European Union (...) This is always possible, but such a rapid accession is simply not feasible," Friedrich Merz reacted.

The agenda for the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting included Russian aggression against Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and the situation in the Great Lakes region. The ministers will also have an informal exchange of views with the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk.