Ukraine submits revised OECD membership bid, Zelenskiy confirms after talks with secretary-general
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed on Tuesday that Ukraine had formally submitted a revised application for membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Paris-based club of mostly advanced economies, as the country accelerates its drive to align with Western institutional frameworks.
The move follows years of cooperation between Kyiv and the OECD on governance reforms, anti-corruption measures, and economic policy adjustments. Ukraine is now seeking candidate-country status — a critical step before full membership can be considered — and hopes to secure that designation as early as this autumn.
Zelenskiy made the announcement after meeting with OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, who was visiting the Ukrainian capital. In a Telegram post, the president said Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko had formally presented the updated bid.
“We hope to obtain candidate country status as early as this autumn. The next stage will be a roadmap toward OECD membership. We discussed this during our meeting,” Zelenskiy wrote.
The renewed bid underscores Ukraine’s broader strategy of embedding itself into Western economic and security institutions — a process Kyiv views as the most reliable long-term guarantee of its sovereignty, particularly in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in 2022. Analysts say OECD membership would signal to investors that Ukraine is committed to best-practice governance and transparent market regulation, potentially helping to attract reconstruction capital.
On the European Union track, Zelenskiy reiterated his government’s ambition for accelerated accession. According to a separate statement from the presidential office, he said Ukraine hopes to open the remaining negotiating clusters with the EU by July 15, the date the country marks its Statehood Day.
“Last week, Zelenskiy reiterated Kyiv’s desire for a fast-track EU membership,” the statement noted, reflecting the urgency that Ukraine attaches to closing the gap with Brussels even as the war grinds on.
Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that he saw no basis for direct talks with Zelenskiy, citing what he described as Ukrainian strikes on civilian infrastructure — a claim that Kyiv has repeatedly denied.
The OECD application and EU integration efforts together form part of a broader diplomatic and institutional push that Ukraine hopes will lock in Western support and pave the way for post-war reconstruction and eventual security guarantees.
(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)