Ukraine and Moldova pushed for a rapid start to European Union accession talks with the support of EU member Romania following a trilateral meeting of their foreign and defence ministers in Bucharest on Thursday.
In a joint statement, the ministers underlined their commitment to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Moldova and Ukraine within internationally recognized borders.
They added: "We also stress in this statement the importance of both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova obtaining the opening of accession negotiations this year in order to become fully-fledged member states of the European Union."
Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu and Defence Minister Tîlvăr had invited Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Moldova's Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu and Defence Minister Anatolie Nosatii to Bucharest for trilateral consultations.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba joined the conference by video. He called for Ukraine and Georgia to be granted membership of NATO at its July summit.
"The upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius is the right time to correct mistakes or the past by taking resolute steps forward on the path to Ukraine's NATO membership," he said, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Kuleba called for a specific plan for accession and for a comprehensive security network to be worked out for all the countries in the region who might feel threatened by a "maniac on the loose," he said in clear reference to Russia.
Ukrainian moves to join the EU and NATO are seen as key reasons for Russia's seizing of the Crimean Peninsula and eastern Ukraine in 2014 and for the invasion of the rest of Ukraine in February last year.
