NICOSIA, April 24, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday there was no prospect of Ukraine's "immediate accession" to the EU, but suggested Kyiv could join meetings of the bloc's members without voting rights.

Ukraine is pushing to speed up its bid to join the 27-nation European Union as it fights Russia's invasion on the battlefield.

Kyiv's progress has been blocked by Hungary's nationalist premier Viktor Orban, but his defeat in elections earlier this month raised hopes it can move to the next step.

EU leaders broadly back moving Ukraine forward by opening the first of the so-callednegotiating "clusters".

But there is little appetite to fast-track Kyiv -- causing some to pitch possible interim benefits in the meantime.

"It is clear to everyone that an immediate accession of Ukraine to the EU is, of course, not possible," Merz said after an EU summit in Cyprus that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky attended.

"I also want to enable closer integration into the European institutions, for example through participation in European councils without voting rights," Merz added.

Just ahead of the gathering in Cyprus, Zelensky appeared to pour cold water on any plans to grant Kyiv some form of lesser status instead of full membership.

He insisted that Kyiv "does not need symbolic EU membership".

"We are defending common European values. I believe that we deserve full-fledged EU membership,"  Zelensky told journalists.

Ukraine is desperate to keep up momentum towards joining the bloc and fears that any suggested interim solutions will see it stranded for years in a halfway house.