INTERNATIONAL: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen returned to Kyiv on Saturday June 11 for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss the country's reconstruction and progress towards European Union membership.

Zelenskiy shook hands and greeted Von Der Leyen as she arrived for her second trip to Kyiv since the start of the war in February, before they held their meeting with officials and later a news conference.

In the joint news conference, Von Der Leyen said Saturday's discussions with Zelenskiy would enable the EU executive to complete its assessment on Ukraine's request to join the union by the end of next week. Whether to recommend Ukraine as a candidate for membership of the European Union.

The move, whose timing was widely expected, would only be a preliminary step in a long process.

All 27 EU governments would have to agree to grant Ukraine candidate status, after which there would be extensive talks on the reforms required before Kyiv could be considered for membership.

Von der Leyen, in her second trip to Kyiv since the start of the war in February, reminded Zelenskiy that despite important progress on administration reforms and in other fields, much still needed to be done.

"You have done a lot in strengthening the rule of law but there is still a need for reforms to be implemented, to fight corruption for example," she told the joint press conference.

At the same conference, Zelenskiy said: "All of Europe is a target for Russia, and Ukraine is just the first stage in this aggression".

"This is why a positive EU response to the Ukrainian application for membership can be a positive answer to the question of whether the European project has a future at all," he added.

After that, talks will need to start and be completed on several reforms required before Kyiv could be considered for membership.