{"id":8469,"date":"2026-05-21T16:01:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8469"},"modified":"2026-05-21T16:01:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:01:45","slug":"germany-urges-the-eu-to-offer-ukraine-associate-membership-and-boost-talks-with-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8469","title":{"rendered":"Germany urges the EU to offer Ukraine \u2018associate membership\u2019 and boost talks with Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>By LORNE COOK and GEIR MOULSON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants the European Union to consider offering \u201cassociate membership\u201d to Ukraine and breathe new life into talks aimed at ending more than four years of war with Russia, according to a letter seen Thursday by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8467\">Europe faces stray Ukrainian drones as Kyiv targets Russian oil exports<\/a><\/p>\n<p>His letter, to the EU\u2019s top officials, comes as the 27-nation bloc weighs whether to try to launch its own negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with U.S. mediated talks bogged down while America\u2019s attention focuses on the Iran war.<\/p>\n<p>Under Merz\u2019s proposals, Ukraine would take part in EU meetings, but without voting rights, and would also have non-voting \u201cassociate members\u201d of the bloc\u2019s powerful executive branch, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>He insisted that this \u201cwould not be a membership light,\u201d and \u201cgo far beyond\u201d the Association Agreement that currently governs EU-Ukraine relations. Merz suggested a \u201csnap-back mechanism\u201d in case Ukraine backslides on democratic standards.<\/p>\n<p>European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed last month that official membership talks with Ukraine should be opened \u201cwithout delay,\u201d and Merz too called for that process to start.<\/p>\n<h4>Delays and road blocks<\/h4>\n<p>On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed signs of possible progress in the accession negotiations, saying in an address that it is \u201cvery important for us. Ukraine has fulfilled everything necessary for this progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Candidate countries must bring their laws into line in 35 policy areas, or \u201cchapters,\u201d ranging from justice standards to farm and fishing rules. All 27 EU members must agree before each chapter can be opened, and then again for it to be closed.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Hungary, notably, has blocked the opening of negotiations, but with a new government now in place in Budapest this month that stance could change.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Merz\u2019s plan is unlikely to please those European officials who argue that EU membership must be a merits-based process that concludes only once all the benchmarks have been met.<\/p>\n<p>But the German leader did say that his approach should be extended to other countries waiting in line to join, notably those in the Western Balkans, where EU leaders are due to gather for a summit next month.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8462\">Judge dismisses all charges against former assistant principal after student shot teacher<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>A European negotiating track<\/h4>\n<p>On the war, Merz wrote that his proposal \u201cwill help facilitate the ongoing peace talks as part of a negotiated peace solution. This is essential not only for Ukraine\u2019s but for the entire continent\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ukraine sees EU membership as one \u201csecurity guarantee\u201d for a stable future once the war ends. Its best guarantee would be NATO membership, but the Trump administration insists that cannot happen, and others are wary of it joining while fighting continues.<\/p>\n<p>As U.S-led mediation efforts have foundered, EU countries have begun to debate whether to launch a parallel negotiating track and who might mediate on their behalf in the unlikely event that Putin might agree to talk to them.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, Costa said that \u201cwe need, in the right moment, to have talks with Russia to address our common issues on security.\u201d He said this should not \u201cdisturb\u201d U.S.-led talks, but that it\u2019s important for Europe to address its own security concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, speculation has swirled in European media about possible EU negotiators, including former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Russian speaker who knows Putin well, and former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.<\/p>\n<p>Putin has suggested that he might talk to Gerhard Schr\u00f6der, another past German chancellor. But officials have poured cold water on that idea even in Germany, where Schr\u00f6der\u2019s ties to the Russian energy sector and friendly relationship with Putin damaged his political standing after Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it would \u201cnot be very wise\u201d to allow Putin to appoint a negotiator, and particularly a \u201chigh-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zelenskyy has welcomed a European role, saying on Sunday that \u201cEurope must be involved in the negotiations. It is important for Europe to have a strong voice and presence in this process, and it is worth determining who will represent Europe specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8460\">Companies join a deep-sea mining rush after Trump executive order, as regulators fast-track permits<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Moulson reported from Berlin. Susie Blann in Kyiv contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants the EU to consider offering \u201cassociate membership\u201d to Ukraine to boost talks with Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Germany urges the EU to offer Ukraine \u2018associate membership\u2019 and boost talks with Russia - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8469\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Germany urges the EU to offer Ukraine \u2018associate membership\u2019 and boost talks with Russia - 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