EU preparing to give Ukraine access to Single Market in peace deal

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1. ***[EXCLUSIVE] The Telegraph reports***:

   Ursula von der Leyen is ready to push EU rules to “breaking point” to give Ukraine privileged access to the bloc’s Single Market as part of a final peace deal, The Telegraph can reveal.

   Lucrative access to a market of 449 million consumers would bring a much-needed economic boost to help rebuild the war-torn country, which is a candidate country to join the EU.

   The plan would see Brussels choose which sectors to open up to Kyiv and which to keep closed.

   Key to the plan is Ukraine’s booming defence industry, which is churning out large numbers of cutting edge drones and provides 55 per cent of weapons used by its army.

   Tariff-free access to Ukrainian arms would bring in money for Kyiv, while boosting the arsenals of EU countries that are rushing to ramp up defence spending and manufacturing.

   EU leaders gave their blessing to a plan to unlock €800bn in defence investment at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

   During the Brexit negotiations, Brussels warned Britain against trying to “cherry pick” access to the Single Market without taking on the full obligations of EU membership, such as freedom of movement.

   “It’s already going in that direction,” a senior EU official told The Telegraph, when asked if the European Commission president was ready to stretch EU rules to their limit for Ukraine.

   Ideally, the plans would form the EU’s part of a final peace settlement but they do not depend on a deal being struck because the exchange of Single Market access for arms will speed up Ukraine one day joining the bloc.

   One EU diplomat pointed out that Ukraine wanted to join the EU, not leave it, and that Donald Trump kickstarting peace talks with Russia without Kyiv meant the “world had changed”.

   “Cherry-picking here is okay, if we are the ones picking the cherries to be picked,” the diplomat said, before predicting the plan would be welcomed by most member states.

   “In defence, Ukraine has a lot to give. The integration of its highly innovative and thriving defence industry, with its capacity to scale, could be a fire starter for a much more integrated European defence market,” said Marta Kos, the EU’s commissioner for enlargement.

   “We are also working on plans to accelerate the integration of Ukraine into many more parts of the Single Market – to attract more investments, to strengthen Europe-wide value chains, and to create new opportunities for both Ukrainian and European businesses. This will be a stepping stone to speed up the reconstruction of Ukraine,” she added in a speech this week.

   **Full story:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/07/ukraine-access-to-eu-single-market-part-of-peace-plan/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/07/ukraine-access-to-eu-single-market-part-of-peace-plan/)

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3. I don’t see Russia engaging in any “peace deal” that falls much short of total Russia victory or allows for it in the future through coercive pressure anyway. If the whole idea of the war is to push NATO off the border why would they want to border a NATO/EU funded bulwark against Russia?

4. It’s almost like working together and being inclusive is a good idea.

5. How will the Hungarians respond?

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