June 4 (Reuters) - All members of the European Union agreed to open talks with Ukraine ‌and Moldova on the first cluster of ‌issues in their accession talks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said ​early on Thursday.

"Fantastic news," she wrote on X. "We are one step closer to the EU membership: steadily moving towards our goal."

Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency ‌of the EU, said ⁠on X it had starting preparing to formally open negotiation on the first ⁠group of negotiating chapters, which cover rule-of-law and democratic standards, with both countries.

"This marks a significant milestone ​in their ​European integration path, and ​sends a strong message ‌of EU unity and determination," it said.

The presidency said it would work "towards finalising the discussions" for the formal opening.

Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said his country and Ukraine had reached an agreement on ‌the rights of the 100,000-strong ​Hungarian minority in Ukraine.

Magyar had ​previously said that agreement ​on the long-running dispute was essential ‌if Budapest were to agree ​to Ukraine ​joining the EU.

Both Ukraine and Moldova are pressing for membership of the 27-member EU after more ​than four years ‌of war pitting Kyiv against Moscow.

(Reporting by ​Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Ron Popeski; ​Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

June 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine will decide who represents Europe in any negotiations with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with Ukrainian media published late on Sunday.

Ukraine has ‌been trying to reinvigorate the diplomatic push to end Russia's more than four-year-old war by ‌including Europeans, as U.S.-backed negotiations stalled amid the Iran war and Ukraine refused Russian demands to cede its territory.

Zelenskiy said that ​Ukraine was discussed "at greater length than ever before" at a European Council meeting last week.

"We discussed Europe's role in the dialogue with the Russians and what that role should be," he said, relaying his comments to the Ukrainian media on social media platform X.

"Europe will consider the format and propose several options, but Ukraine ‌will decide who represents Europe in ⁠the negotiations. That is fair."

European leaders have recently begun discussing the possibility of direct talks with Moscow, but they are divided over how to handle relations ⁠with Russia.

LICENSES FOR MISSILE DEFENCE PRODUCTION

Zelenskiy had urged allies to increase pressure on Russia to end the war at the Group of Seven summit in the French resort of Evian-les-Bains, where he met with U.S. President Donald ​Trump.

Zelenskiy repeated ​his request for the U.S. leader to approve licenses ​for Ukraine to manufacture U.S.-designed Patriot interceptor ‌missile systems locally. The war in Iran exposed a global shortage of such weapons at a time when Russia is increasing its ballistic missile production.

"This time, it became quite public that the U.S. team had responded positively to the issue of licenses for the first time," Zelenskiy said.

The U.S. interceptors are the only effective weapon in Ukraine's arsenal for downing Russian ballistic missiles.

The Ukrainian leader said that Trump planned ‌to ask U.S. defence companies to establish licensed production of ​air defence missiles in Europe and Ukraine.

Reuters could not immediately ​reach the White House or Raytheon and ​Lockheed Martin, which manufacture the Patriot missile interceptor systems, for comment.

Fabian Hoffmann, a ‌senior researcher at the Norwegian Defence University College, ​said approval would mark ​a significant shift in policy as the U.S. has so far not granted Rheinmetall permission for a licensed facility to produce the latest generation PAC-3 interceptors in Germany.

But Hoffmann noted that the ​main bottleneck in production was ‌not final assembly of the systems but the production of certain components, such as the ​radar homing device onboard the missile, which is made by Boeing.

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; ​Additional reporting by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has returned Poland's highest honour after his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki said he was stripping him of the award.

The Polish Order of the White Eagle was bestowed on Zelensky in 2023 by then-President Andrzej Duda.

But Kyiv caused outrage last month after renaming a Ukrainian army unit after a group of controversial World War Two fighters called the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

Three senior Ukrainian officials have also said they are returning awards bestowed by Poland, to show solidarity with their president.

Many in Ukraine regard the UPA, which existed in the 1940s and 1950s, as heroes who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Soviet Red Army, Nazi Germany and Polish authorities. The group's red and black flag is often used by Ukrainian troops on the front line today.

Poland, however, accuses the UPA of carrying out a genocide of about 100,000 ethnic Poles in Volhynia (now Volyn in Ukraine) in 1943-45.

In a statement on social media, Zelensky said Ukraine would "remain open to all meaningful formats of engagement with Poland in order to try to avoid conflicting interpretations of the difficult and painful chapters of our shared past".

He added Ukraine was "grateful to the Polish People for their support and co-operation".

Poland has been one of Ukraine's main allies during the war against Russia, taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees and serving as a logistics hub for aid to Ukraine.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki branded Ukraine's decision late last month to name the unit after the UPA "outrageous", "incomprehensible" and "deeply disappointing".

"For the overwhelming majority of Polish society, the UPA remains, above all, a formation responsible for the brutal crimes committed against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War Two," Nawrocki said in a video released on the president's official website.

"It hurts not only our historical memory. It also undermines the trust built up over the years and in recent months," he added.

However, Nawrocki stressed the diplomatic row would not impact Poland's support for Ukraine against Russia.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on social media that any feud between the two "delights" Russia's Vladimir Putin and called on Zelensky and Nawrocki to "calm emotions, not to stoke tensions".

Ukraine has ambitions to become an EU member state and attended the first phase of membership negotiations this week in Luxembourg.

• Zelensky stripped of highest Polish honour over WW2 name of army unit

• Zelensky under pressure to end row with Poland over WW2 name of army unit

• 'Go back to Ukraine': War refugees complain of abuse in Poland

WARSAW, June 21 (Reuters) - A conflict between politicians in Poland and Ukraine is a strategic mistake that will harm both ‌sides, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday, seeking ‌to defuse a rekindled dispute over events that occurred during World War Two.

Polish President ​Karol Nawrocki on Friday stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of the country's top honour, prompting three former Ukrainian presidents and other senior officials to return their state awards to Poland.

Nawrocki revoked the Order of the ‌White Eagle after Zelenskiy ⁠angered many in Poland by renaming a Ukrainian army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, nationalists who massacred ⁠Poles during World War Two.

The pro-European Tusk was reelected as prime minister in 2023, after leading a coalition that defeated the nationalist Law and ​Justice party ​with which Nawrocki is aligned.

"Wading ​into a conflict between politicians ‌in Poland and Ukraine is a strategic mistake that will harm both sides: business-wise, geopolitically, and reputationally. And in politics, as we know, a mistake is worse than a crime," Tusk wrote in a post on X.

"In discussions with my European partners, I strive to minimise ‌losses and reduce tensions. This is ​no easy task," he added.

Zelenskiy, in an ​interview posted on X, said ​Ukraine and Poland cannot be "anything but partners and ‌friends," adding that a political struggle ​could end in ​a "very dangerous escalation".

"Our servicemembers choose a heroic name for their unit themselves, and as President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief, I must support ​them," he said. "Without Ukraine, ‌no one will be able to defend Poland. It is ​simply impossible."

(Reporting by Anna Koper and Jekaterīna Golubkova; Editing ​by Barbara Lewis and Edmund Klamann)