The Russian invasion did exactly the opposite of what Russia was trying to achieve. Europe is more united. Ukraine now officially has the status of a candidate for EU membership, doing its homework in a speedy way, I would say, to meet the standards and requirements to be an EU member, the same as we will do for NATO. It brings the dialogue between the EU and Ukraine to a totally different level.
For example, in February we had the EU-Ukraine summit. It was in Kyiv, and most of the commissioners were coming to Ukraine and seeing on the ground..., understanding both the need for Ukraine to defend itself—because we are all defending Europe, the security of Europe—and a lot of things that are happening in our integration, whether it's the digital infrastructure, whether it's logistics, whether it's industry, whether it's standards. Our path is now officially that of a candidate for EU membership. We're more closely co-operating with both the EU countries and the European Union itself on our path to the EU. That brings a lot of collaboration, a lot of joint groups on proceeding quickly on this integration.
I would also like to say that Ukraine also has the EU as a part of its bigger foreign agenda, because Ukraine is not stopping doing its homework during the war. Historically, for the first time, a country that is in an active fight for itself—Ukraine—has a four-year program with the International Monetary Fund, which on one side provides funding to Ukraine and on the other side is a path to structural reform. The government is committed and is doing this.
That has brought unity. Of course, there are some issues that can happen from time to time that the countries of the European Union and Ukraine are discussing. However, we have a totally different feeling in terms of co-operation.