In December, it is expected that the European Union will officially announce the start of negotiations with Ukraine for its future membership in the blocPolitico reports.

According to diplomatic sources, leaders are preparing to give Kiev the green light to start formal talks on joining the 27-nation bloc before the end of the year.

Ukraine is at the center of a major new enlargement of the EU to up to 35 countries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her annual speech to Parliament last month that Ukraine’s future is “in the Union”.

EU countries granted Kyiv the status of an EU candidate country in June and the Commission is due to issue a “progress report” on how well Ukraine and other would-be members are meeting the bloc’s conditions for membership in November, according to an EU official who spoke to reporters on Tuesday.

Once the progress report is approved, the Commission will make a statement that it will be “very difficult for Member States not to approve the opening of negotiations” on Ukraine; said an EU diplomat. “The political push around it will simply be too great for individual member states to object. The working hypothesis is indeed that by December, the European Council will decide to start negotiations.”

In order to start the talks, Ukraine is legally required to meet seven conditions set by the Commission, including judicial reforms and the fight against corruption. By August, only two of the seven conditions had been met, the Ukrainian government said at the time.

While Ukraine may not have met all seven conditions by the time European heads of state and governments gather for the summit in mid-December, the leaders are set to make a political declaration that will authorize the negotiations even if the legal framework for negotiations has not yet been finalised.

“The goal is to agree politically in December for the start of negotiations”a second diplomat said, adding that a legal decision on Ukraine’s admission could be issued by early 2024.

A third diplomat said the leaders they will “send a positive message” about Ukraine’s future accession in December.

Asked how far Ukraine has come in meeting the seven criteria, an EU official said that progress was encouraging and only one area, concerning minorities, appeared problematic.