Ukraine's prime minister said a Ukraine-European Union summit will take place in Kyiv on Friday, as the war-torn country battles to repel the Russian invasion.

"The Ukraine-EU summit will be held in Kyiv on February 3," Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told a government meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 31, calling the event "extremely important" for Kyiv's bid to join the European bloc.

"The fact that this summit will be held in Kyiv is a powerful signal to both partners and enemies."

No details were provided on who would be attending on the European Union side.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24 last year, and his forces have repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure including in the capital Kyiv.

Shmygal said that the fact that the high-profile summit will take place in war-time Kyiv is meant to demonstrate to Russia that its efforts to sow discord among Kyiv's Western allies and prevent Ukraine from joining the EU have been futile.

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The Ukrainian prime minister said that another key event will take place on Thursday, when consultations between the government of Ukraine and the European Commission will take place "for the first time in our history."

Ukraine gained EU candidacy status in June last year.

EU countries have staunchly supported Ukraine since Moscow invaded in February, by hitting Russia with waves of economic penalties and sending weapons to Kyiv

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Hungary Says It Has Deal With Ukraine on Minority Rights, Ties It to EU Accession Talks

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that Hungary and Ukraine have reached a “comprehensive agreement” to broaden language, cultural, educational and political rights for roughly 100,000 ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region, following several weeks of expert-level talks. Kyiv has pledged to write the agreed measures into Ukrainian law, reflecting them in the EU accession action plan. Budapest indicated it would support opening the first negotiating cluster for Ukraine.

 

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