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00:00Now, Ukraine's Energy Ministry says Russia launched a massive attack on energy infrastructure
00:05overnight, saying installations have been hit in Zaporizhia in the south and Lviv in the west.
00:11It comes after Russian-installed officials said a Ukrainian drone attack knocked out
00:16two electricity substations near the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear plant,
00:20cutting power to nearby residents.
00:24And on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the launch of talks with
00:28the EU next week, which will formally mark the start of Kyiv's path towards joining the bloc.
00:34European Union ministers will start negotiations with Ukraine and then with Moldova and Luxembourg
00:40on Tuesday. Ukrainian officials hope the talks will facilitate more EU aid for their war effort.
00:46Our Brussels correspondent Dave Keating has more.
00:51What's happening on Tuesday is the start of accession negotiations between the EU
00:56and Ukraine. It's a very big step. And it's happening because this was rushed through the
01:02council that is the body of the national governments really quickly over the past two
01:07weeks. They had to rush it through because Hungary will be taking over the rotating presidency of
01:13the Council of Ministers on the 1st of July. And Hungary has openly said that they will not be
01:19advancing accession talks in the council in any way during their six-month presidency.
01:25So the fact that they've signed off this negotiating mandate means that it's handed
01:30over to the commission. And so Hungary can't mess with it. The commission will be conducting these
01:34negotiations based on this negotiating mandate agreed by member states. And this was signed off
01:41by Hungary in the end, this negotiating mandate. So this is a long process. And normally, this
01:47takes many, many years, let's say six to eight years. For some countries, it goes faster. For
01:52some countries, it goes very slowly. For countries in the Western Balkans, this has gone extremely
01:57slowly. And that's part of Hungary's objections. So Hungary has said that if this accession process
02:04moves forward with Ukraine, they need those accession talks with the Western Balkan countries,
02:08particularly Serbia, to move just as fast. So we can expect that these talks over the next six
02:14months will continue. There can't be any advancement in the council while Hungary has the presidency,
02:20that's clear. But there won't necessarily need to be because it will be the commission
02:24conducting these talks. And as they go forward, the big question is chapters.
02:30They'll open up different chapters of negotiation as they go ahead.