KIEV, Ukraine: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has handed over to EU Ambassador Matti Maasikas a questionnaire aimed at securing his country's candidate status for EU membership, according to the presidential press service.

At the transfer ceremony in Kiev, Zelensky said, "Today is one of the phases for our country in entering the EU, the desire that our people are striving for and fighting for." The people of Ukraine are united in their desire to join the EU, Zelensky said, adding that the quick work on giving a questionnaire to Ukraine is a positive signal for Kiev.  "We believe we will gain support and become a candidate for accession,  Zelensky added. Maasikas, for one, stated that Ukraine's responses to the questionnaire will be examined "quite promptly."

Earlier in the day, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna, announced that Kiev had sent the European Commission the first part of a questionnaire covering political and economic issues. The other portion, which examines the compatibility of Ukrainian legislation with EU laws, would be handed to the European Commission soon, Stefanishyna said.

On February 28, Zelensky signed an official letter to the EU requesting that Ukraine be admitted under a new special procedure. During her visit to Kiev on April 8, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen handed over a questionnaire to Zelensky.

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