Ukraine, Briefly

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• The European Commission has endorsed Ukraine’s request for EU membership, putting it one step closer to joining the bloc, the BBC reported. Candidacy is an important step in joining the EU, but the process could take years. The European Commission’s suggestion still has to be approved by the EU’s 27 member states, who will gather next week to consider it. Meanwhile, Russia accused Brussels of “manipulating” Ukraine, adding that Kyiv “is not getting a bright future, for some reason, despite the promises becoming more and more sweet and alluring,” Agence France-Presse added.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that his country’s military will retake the south following a visit to front-line troops in the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, according to the Hill. Even so, his announcement comes as Western officials, including NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, warned that the war in Ukraine could drag on for years, the Associated Press wrote. Others raised concern that the conflict could result in desertions and rebellion against officers’ orders on both sides.

• Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that its forces had captured another town near Sievierodonetsk, where Russia has battled Ukrainian soldiers in weeks of brutal street combat and artillery duels as it seeks to expand its territory in the eastern Donbas area, the New York Times noted.