Ukraine must align laws and standards with those of the EU as membership talks start

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00:00Now, Ukraine's Energy Ministry says Russia launched a massive attack on energy infrastructure

00:05overnight, saying installations have been hit in Zaporizhia in the south and Lviv in the west.

00:11It comes after Russian-installed officials said a Ukrainian drone attack knocked out

00:16two electricity substations near the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear plant,

00:20cutting power to nearby residents.

00:24And on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the launch of talks with

00:28the EU next week, which will formally mark the start of Kyiv's path towards joining the bloc.

00:34European Union ministers will start negotiations with Ukraine and then with Moldova and Luxembourg

00:40on Tuesday. Ukrainian officials hope the talks will facilitate more EU aid for their war effort.

00:46Our Brussels correspondent Dave Keating has more.

00:51What's happening on Tuesday is the start of accession negotiations between the EU

00:56and Ukraine. It's a very big step. And it's happening because this was rushed through the

01:02council that is the body of the national governments really quickly over the past two

01:07weeks. They had to rush it through because Hungary will be taking over the rotating presidency of

01:13the Council of Ministers on the 1st of July. And Hungary has openly said that they will not be

01:19advancing accession talks in the council in any way during their six-month presidency.

01:25So the fact that they've signed off this negotiating mandate means that it's handed

01:30over to the commission. And so Hungary can't mess with it. The commission will be conducting these

01:34negotiations based on this negotiating mandate agreed by member states. And this was signed off

01:41by Hungary in the end, this negotiating mandate. So this is a long process. And normally, this

01:47takes many, many years, let's say six to eight years. For some countries, it goes faster. For

01:52some countries, it goes very slowly. For countries in the Western Balkans, this has gone extremely

01:57slowly. And that's part of Hungary's objections. So Hungary has said that if this accession process

02:04moves forward with Ukraine, they need those accession talks with the Western Balkan countries,

02:08particularly Serbia, to move just as fast. So we can expect that these talks over the next six

02:14months will continue. There can't be any advancement in the council while Hungary has the presidency,

02:20that's clear. But there won't necessarily need to be because it will be the commission

02:24conducting these talks. And as they go forward, the big question is chapters.

02:30They'll open up different chapters of negotiation as they go ahead.

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