According to new reports, Ukraine, which is currently suffering through an invasion by Russia, is seeking to solidify its bond with Western nations by signing an application to join the European Union as the first-round of Ukraine-Russia negotiations to end the fighting came to a close with no immediate agreements.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky shared photographs of himself signing the EU application, which is mostly a symbolic move that could actually end up taking years to happen and is not going to sit well with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been leveling accusations of the West trying to pull Ukraine into its circle.

via Newsmax:

Russian and Ukrainian officials held their meeting on Day Five of the war under the shadow of Putin’s nuclear threats, and with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine running into unexpectedly fierce resistance.

Early Monday night, a top adviser to Ukraine’s president said that the first round of talks with Russia had ended and that both delegations had returned home for consultations in their capitals.

Mykhailo Podolyak gave few details except to say that the talks, held near the Ukraine-Belarus border, were focused on a possible cease-fire and that a second round could take place “in the near future.”

At this stage, Ukraine is many years away from reaching the standards for achieving EU membership, and the 27-nation bloc is expansion-weary and unlikely to take on new members any time soon.