Ukraine hopes to receive EU candidate country status within weeks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a meeting with the EU's envoy to Ukraine in Kyiv on Monday.
Zelenskyy handed the envoy, Matti Maasikas, two volumes in response to a membership questionnaire brought by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Ukraine this month.
"We believe that we will receive support for this work, become a candidate for admission, and then the next final stage will begin," Zelenskyy told Maasikas, according to a video of the meeting on social media.
"We really believe that this procedure will take place in the coming weeks," he said, adding that "our people ... mentally have been in Europe for a long time."
Zelenskyy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said that Ukraine was hoping to receive candidate status following a summit of EU leaders in June.
"Next, accession negotiations should begin, which should take place under an accelerated procedure.
"Ukraine will be in the EU," he wrote.
Ukraine has ramped up its bid to join the European Union since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24.
EU leaders have voiced support for Ukraine's ambitions but have not committed to any timetable and have expressed skepticism about speeding up a process that usually takes years.