EU says Ukraine is making progress with reforms and on track to membership talks

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says that Ukraine is making progress on political reforms and other sectors, staying the course towards opening membership talks with the 27-nation bloc. Ukraine sees EU membership as an essential part of its Western-oriented future and for over a year now it has worked on paving the way to membership talks. European leaders issued some badly-needed words of encouragement, laced with warnings that a lot of work remains to be done.