It will take decades for Ukraine to be accepted into the European Union, French leader Emmanuel Macron has said, the BBC reports.
In a speech to the EU’s parliament in Strasbourg, he instead suggested Ukraine could join a “parallel European community” while it awaits a decision.
This would allow non-EU members to join Europe’s security architecture in other ways, Mr Macron said.
Ukraine began the process of applying to join the bloc in February this year, four days after Russia launched military actions.
“We all know perfectly well that the process to allow [Ukraine] to join would take several years indeed, probably several decades,” Mr Macron said on Monday.
