KYIV, UKraine (AP) — The European Union’s enlargement chief said Wednesday she is confident Hungary will not derail Ukraine’s path to membership, which she described as "inevitable.”
“I’m not worried,” Commissioner Marta Kos told reporters while visiting a thermal power plant in Western Ukraine that was badly damaged by Russia’s campaign against civilian infrastructure. “I would be worried if there were real concerns.”
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A worker shows damages of a production hall after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, front, looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A worker walks in front of a production hall after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
“On EU membership of Ukraine — which is inevitable — I see this as a political anchor of security guarantees,” she said, noting that “There has never been a war on the territory of the European Union.”
Ukraine hopes to join the bloc by the end of the decade and remains frustrated that its path to NATO membership looks uncertain.
Kyiv applied for EU membership in 2022 shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Now, Commissioner Kos is convening an informal meeting of European affairs ministers Thursday to prepare for the next stage of accession talks.
Kos hinted that the process could move even faster, saying “The quicker the reforms which are needed will be done, the quicker the process can be.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has opposed launching membership talks while the war continues. Yet, Kos dismissed his objections saying “We do not need Orbán to do the reforms which are necessary for Ukraine to become a member of the EU."
The Slovenian diplomat toured the heavily damaged power plant, where heavy machinery was blackened, control panels melted and a giant hole gaped in the roof of one of the main buildings.
Andrii, a turbine operator on duty during a recent attack, described the chaos that followed.
“The first thing you feel is a huge rush of adrenaline. There’s heavy smoke, loud noise, pressure — you can’t hear your colleagues,” he said. “Damaged equipment means escaping steam and high-temperature feedwater. At first it’s very difficult to orient yourself in the smoke.”
Company officials asked that the plant’s location and the full names of employees not be published for security reasons.
The thermal power plant is one of six operated by private utility DTEK that have sustained major damage from relentless Russian drone and missile attacks in recent weeks.
Kos praised the resilience of power workers and Ukrainians in general.
“There is no other more resistant nation in the world which I know than the Ukrainians,” she said, recalling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expectation of a quick victory. “Putin said it would take one week. But here we are and it’s been nearly four years, so you are already the winners."
Andriy Popovych contributed.
A worker shows damages of a production hall after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, front, looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A worker walks in front of a production hall after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is expected to give its latest peace proposals to U.S. negotiators Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv's effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.
As tension builds around a U.S. push for a settlement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to President Donald Trump by phone Wednesday, according to officials.
Negotiations are at “a critical moment,” the European leaders said in official statements.
Washington’s goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting that followed Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 is reducing Kyiv’s room for maneuvering. Zelenskyy is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Trump he is willing to compromise, even as Moscow shows no public sign of budging from its demands.
Ukraine’s European allies are backing Zelensky’s effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks, as well as accommodating Europe’s defense interests.
The French government said Ukraine’s allies — dubbed the “Coalition of the Willing” — will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video. Zelenskyy said it would include those countries’ leaders.
“We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And it’s not easy, but nevertheless we will do it,” he said late Tuesday.
Zelenskyy said discussions with the U.S. were scheduled later Wednesday to focus on a document detailing plans for Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and economic development. Also, Ukraine is finalizing work on a separate, 20-point framework for ending the war. Zelenskyy said Kyiv expects to submit that document to Washington soon.
After Trump called for a presidential election in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered.
Zelenskyy's openness to an election was a response to comments by Trump in which he questioned Ukraine’s democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to stand before voters. Those comments echo similar remarks often made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy said late Tuesday he is “ready” for an election but needs help from the U.S. and possibly Europe to ensure its security. He suggested Ukraine could hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.
“To hold elections, two issues must be addressed: primarily, security — how to conduct them, how to do it under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military — how they would vote,” Zelenskyy said. “And the second issue is the legislative framework required to ensure the legitimacy of elections.”
Zelenskyy pointed out previously that balloting can’t legally happen while martial law — imposed due to Russia’s invasion — is in place. He has also asked how a vote could occur when civilian areas of Ukraine are being bombarded and almost 20% of the country is under Russian occupation.
Zelenskyy said he has asked lawmakers from his party to draw up legislative proposals allowing for an election while Ukraine is under martial law.
Ukrainians have on the whole supported Zelenskyy’s arguments, and have not clamored for an election. Under the law that is in force, Zelenskyy’s rule is legitimate.
Putin has repeatedly complained that Zelenskyy can’t legitimately negotiate a peace settlement because his five-year term that began in 2019 has expired.
A new U.S. national security strategy released Dec. 5 made clear that Trump wants to improve Washington’s relationship with Moscow and “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.” The document also portrays European allies as weak.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Trump’s role in the Ukraine peace effort, telling the upper house of parliament that Moscow appreciates his “commitment to dialogue.” Trump, Lavrov said, is “the only Western leader” who shows “an understanding of the reasons that made war in Ukraine inevitable.”
Trump’s peace efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
The initial U.S. proposal was heavily slanted toward Russia’s demands. To counter that, Zelenskyy has turned to his European supporters.
Zelenskyy met this week with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London, the heads of NATO and the European Union in Brussels, and then went to Rome to meet the Italian premier and Pope Leo XIV.
Europe’s support is uneven, however, and that has meant a decrease in military aid since the Trump administration this year cut off supplies to Kyiv unless they were paid for by other NATO countries.
Foreign military help for Ukraine fell sharply over the summer, and that trend continued through September and October, a German body that tracks international help for Ukraine said Wednesday.
Average annual aid, mostly provided by the U.S. and Europe, was about 41.6 billion euros ($48.4 billion) between 2022–24. But so far this year Ukraine has received just 32.5 billion euros ($37.8 billion), the Kiel Institute said.
This year, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have substantially increased their help for Ukraine, while Germany nearly tripled its average monthly allocations and France and the U.K. both more than doubled their contributions, the Kiel Institute said.
On the other hand, it said, Spain recorded no new military aid for Kyiv in 2025 while Italy reduced its low contributions by 15% compared with 2022–2024.
Jill Lawless in London, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
People walk around the Christmas tree in front of St. Sophia Monastery in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A man walks around an improvised memorial to fallen soldiers killed in the Russia-Ukraine war at Independence square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
In this photo distributed by the Federation Council of The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a session of The Federation Council of The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (The Federation Council of The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation Press Service via AP)
FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, looks back at the media in Downing Street, London, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pose on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, London, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, following a meeting of the leaders inside. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Leo XIV wave to journalists during their meeting in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
