Brussels, Jun 15 (IANS): The Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) has announced that EU ambassadors agreed "in principle" on the negotiating frameworks for the accession talks of Ukraine and Moldova.

The presidency on Friday revealed on its official social media account on X that the first intergovernmental conferences will be convened on June 25 when European affairs ministers are scheduled to meet in Luxembourg.

A European Commission spokesperson said a week ago that both countries had met all the necessary steps for accession negotiations to formally begin, Xinhua news agency reported.

The 27 EU member states must unanimously agree to start the negotiations, which typically take years to conclude.

Moldova applied for EU membership in March 2022, while Ukraine applied in February of the same year. Both countries were granted candidate status in June 2022. In December last year, EU leaders agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova.