MUNICH, Germany/MOSCOW - High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas on Sunday said she felt that the European Union member states are not ready to give a concrete date regarding Ukraine's EU membership.

"There's a lot of work to be done," she said at the 62nd Munich Security Conference. In the end, "it's always the geopolitical picture" that shapes such decisions, she added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently called for a specific date for Ukraine to formally join the EU. Ukraine was granted candidate status for accession to the EU in June 2022.

Russian forces seized 12 settlements

Separately, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said Russian forces have seized control of 12 settlements since the start of February despite severe winter conditions.

Among the localities captured were Popovka and Sidorovka in the Sumy region, as well as Chuhunivka in the Kharkov region, Gerasimov said.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the country's air defense systems have shot down 222 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours.

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Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Russian forces have destroyed 670 Ukrainian aircraft, 283 helicopters, 650 surface-to-air missile systems and more than 114,000 drones, the ministry added.