Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said he has signed an official request for his country to join the European Union.
Zelenskyy posted photos of himself signing the application and his office said the paperwork was on its way to Brussels, where the 27-nation EU is headquartered.
The announcement came after the president urged the bloc to grant his country immediate membership under a special procedure, as Russia's assault against the pro-Western country entered its fifth day.
"We appeal to the European Union for the immediate accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure," the 44-year-old leader said in a video address earlier on Monday. "Our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing. I'm sure it's fair. I'm sure it's possible."
During his video address, he also urged Russian soldiers to lay down their weapons and leave as Ukrainian and Russian delegations held talks on Moscow's invasion.
The first round of talks between Ukrainian officials aimed at ending the fighting concluded with no deal but an agreement to keep talking.
The meeting came under the shadow of Putin’s nuclear threats and with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine running into unexpectedly fierce resistance and Western sanctions beginning to wreak havoc on the economy at home.
A top Zelenskyy adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the talks, held near the Ukraine-Belarus border, were focused on a possible cease-fire and that a second round could take place “in the near future.”
A top Putin aide and head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that the discussions lasted nearly five hours and that the envoys “found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen." He said they agreed to continue the talks in the coming days.
"Abandon your equipment. Get out of here. Don't believe your commanders. Don't believe your propagandists. Just save your lives," Zelenskyy said in the address earlier in the day.
He claimed that more than 4,500 Russian soldiers had already lost their lives during the Kremlin's assault. He added that 16 children have been killed amid the Russian military operation while Moscow claimed the targets were only strategic to Ukrainian army infrastructure, not civilian buildings.
Zelenskyy announced that he decided to release prisoners with real military experience from custody to make amends. He also seeks to boost troop numbers by inviting Ukrainian men to join resistance forces.
"When I went to the presidency, I said that each of us is the president. Because we are all responsible for our state, for our beautiful Ukraine. And now it has happened that each of us is a warrior. The warrior is in his place. And I am confident that each of us will win," he said.
