BRUSSELS/MOSCOW/BRUSSELS – EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that Ukraine's future lies in the European Union, as the country prepares to open two new clusters of accession negotiations with the bloc.

Kallas made the remarks at a press conference following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

She welcomed Ukraine's adoption of the necessary legislation earlier in the day, which paved the way for the opening of the two negotiating clusters on Tuesday.

"Ukraine's future is in the EU," Kallas said, adding that EU member states had indicated that the process should proceed smoothly.

The two clusters cover the "Internal Market" and "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth", according to the Council of the EU.

Kallas also said EU enlargement is not just about expanding the bloc's membership, but also about making Europe safer and stronger geopolitically.

Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022 and was granted candidate status in June of the same year. The EU formally launched accession negotiations with Ukraine in June 2024.

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Nearly 1,600 sanctions listings targeting Russia's military-industrial complex

In a post on social media platform X, Kallas said EU foreign ministers on Monday adopted nearly 1,600 new sanctions listings targeting Russia's military-industrial complex.

Kallas said more than half of the new listings were linked to the production chain for ballistic missiles, adding that it was the largest single expansion of the bloc's sanctions list since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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The measures are aimed at making it significantly harder, slower and more expensive for Russia to produce weapons used against Ukraine, she said.

Kremlin: Ukraine seeks truce to regroup forces

Also on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine-proposed 60-day ceasefire is aimed at allowing its forces to regroup its forces for fighting, rather than facilitating an election.

"Kiev does not really want to hold elections, which is absolutely obvious. It needs a 60-day ceasefire not for elections, but to gather its strength, heal its wounds and continue the war," Peskov said in comments published on the Kremlin's social media channel.

Peskov also said Russian President Vladimir Putin would be prepared to order the military not to conduct strikes on Ukraine on election days if Ukraine genuinely intended to hold a presidential election.

Russia strikes Ukrainian logistics center, cargo ships

Meanwhile, Russian forces continued strikes on logistics centers, port infrastructure and ships involved in delivering military supplies to Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

A logistics center operated by Ukrainian postal company Nova Poshta in the settlement of Ternivka in Ukraine's Mykolaiv region was hit, the ministry said in a social media post. The center was used to store dual-use goods intended to support the Ukrainian armed forces, it said.

The ministry also said a dry cargo ship carrying military supplies to the port of Mykolaiv was hit at sea. Another dry cargo ship transporting military and dual-use goods to the port of Odesa was also struck.