Russia Says EU Candidate Status for Ukraine, Moldova Will Have Negative Consequences

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg on June 16, 2022. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg on June 16, 2022. (AFP)
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Russia Says EU Candidate Status for Ukraine, Moldova Will Have Negative Consequences

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg on June 16, 2022. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg on June 16, 2022. (AFP)

Russia on Friday said the decision by European Union leaders to accept Ukraine and Moldova as membership candidates would have negative consequences and amounted to the EU's "enslaving" neighboring countries.

Although it could take years for the countries to join the European bloc, the decision to accept them as candidates is a symbol of the EU's intention to reach deep into the former Soviet Union.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, called the move an attempt to encroach on Russia's sphere of influence within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) made up of ex-Soviet states.

"With the decision to grant Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidate countries, the European Union has confirmed that it continues to actively exploit the CIS on a geopolitical level, to use it to 'contain' Russia," she said in a statement.

"They are not thinking of the negative consequences of such a step."

By expanding to Ukraine and Moldova, two former Soviet republics, Zakharova said, the EU was sacrificing its democratic ideals at the expense of "unrestrained expansion and the political and economic enslavement of its neighbors."

Moscow has said it needed to send troops into Ukraine, in part, to prevent its territory from being used to attack Russia. Western countries and Kyiv say Russia's claims are a baseless pretext to justify a land grab.



Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Halts Russian Troop Advance in Sumy Region

A resident walks at a street near a building damaged by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
A resident walks at a street near a building damaged by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
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Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Halts Russian Troop Advance in Sumy Region

A resident walks at a street near a building damaged by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
A resident walks at a street near a building damaged by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

Ukrainian forces have stopped Russian troops advancing in the northeastern Sumy region and are now battling to regain control along the border with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

In remarks released for publication by his office on Saturday, Zelenskiy said that Moscow has amassed about 53,000 troops in the direction of Sumy, Reuters reported.

"We are leveling the position. The fighting there is along the border. You should understand that the enemy has been stopped there. And the maximum depth at which the fighting takes place is 7 km (4.35 miles) from the border," Zelenskiy said.

Russia's troops have been focusing their assaults in the eastern Donetsk region. But since the start of the month, they have intensified their attacks in the north-east, announcing plans to create a so-called 'buffer zone' in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

The Russian war in Ukraine is in its fourth year, but it has intensified in recent weeks.

Ukraine conducted an audacious drone attack this month that took out multiple aircraft inside Russia and also hit the bridge connecting Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula using underwater explosives.

Moscow ramped up its air assaults after the attack.

Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian troops had maintained their defensive lines along more than 1,000 kilometres of the frontline. He also dismissed Moscow's claims that Russian troops had crossed the administrative border into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk.

Zelenskiy said that Russia was sending small assault groups "to get one foot on the administrative border" and make a picture or a video, but these attacks were repelled.

Dnipropetrovsk borders three regions that are partially occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Zelenskiy acknowledged that Ukraine was unable to regain all of its territory by military force and reiterated his pleas for stronger sanctions on Russia to force Moscow into negotiations to end the war.

Two rounds of peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul produced few results that could lead to a ceasefire and a broader peace deal. The two sides agreed only to exchange prisoners of war.

Several swaps have already been conducted this month, and Zelenskiy said he expected them to continue until June 20 or 21.

In separate remarks made on communications platform Telegram on Saturday, he said that a new group of Ukrainian prisoners of war had come home as part of another swap with Russia.

"We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week," Zelenskiy wrote on his personal account.

Ukrainian officials responsible for exchanging prisoners said the vast majority of the soldiers released in the exchange had been held captive since 2022 with many captured during the defence of Mariupol.

The officials said Kyiv had, meanwhile, received the bodies of 1,200 of its soldiers killed in the war with Russia. The bodies were handed over to Ukraine on Friday.

"The agreement is that the exchanges will be completed, and the sides will discuss the next step," Zelenskiy said.