Spain's PM wants EU enlargement talks with Ukraine before year-end

Flags of Ukraine fly in front of the EU Parliament building on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, in Brussels, Belgium February 24, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Fie Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday he hoped to open enlargement talks between the European Union and Ukraine before the end of his country's six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on Dec. 31.

"I kicked off the Spanish presidency with a trip to Kyiv and I hope to close it with the opening of accession negotiations with this country, now that the European Commission's report is known," Sanchez told a plenary session of the European Parliament.