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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised as a "historic step" a recommendation by the European Union executive on Wednesday to invite Kyiv to begin membership talks as soon as it meets final conditions, even as it fights to repel Russia's war. The recommendation by the European Commission is an important milestone on Kyiv's road to Western integration and a geo-political gambit for the EU as Ukraine has been fighting against a large-scale Russian invasion since February 2022. The Commission said the talks should formally be launched once Kyiv satisfies remaining conditions related to reining in corruption, adopting a law on lobbying...

STRASBOURG, France - The EU budget chief said the bloc needs to invest dedicated funds to avert a “climate crash” as Brussels detailed how it planned to pay for a trillion euro push to cut net C02 emissions to zero by 2050 and protect member countries dependent on coal. “We need climate cash in order to avoid a climate crash,” European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn told Reuters on Tuesday. Of the 1 trillion euros of the EU’s 10-year investment plan, roughly half is to come from the EU long-term budget, the Commission said. This will trigger more than 100 billion...