Ukraine's Rada to adopt bills needed to start talks on Ukraine's accession to EU - Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada speaker

MOSCOW. July 6 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian parliament will adopt all bills needed to start talks on Ukraine's accession to the European Union before the end of 2022, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said.

"We are now working in this direction. The Verkhovna Rada, in collaboration with the Cabinet of Ministers, has prepared a plan of legislative work that concerns issues associated with a clear chart for the adoption of laws before the end of this year," Stefanchuk said on the national telemarathon on Tuesday evening, according to Ukrainian media reports.

This plan will be approved upon return to Ukraine from Lugano, Switzerland, at a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, he said.

Some bills may be "hard to pass," he speaker said.

"However, one needs to be able to make unpopular decisions because our way and other movement to the European Union depend on that. The Verkhovna Rada intends to work, we remain open to discussion. No one will make us leave the right path, we are going in the direction of the EU, we are returning home," Stefanchuk said.

Stefanchuk and Shmyhal attended the international Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, which ended on Tuesday.