Turkey leaves membership in the European Union (EU) as its goal, but the process is unlikely to "revive" in the short term, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. He added that Ankara will continue to develop relations with the countries of Latin America, Africa and the Persian Gulf, RIA Novosti reports.

“But I don't think our EU membership process will pick up any time soon. And bear in mind that this is not our fault,” said Çavuşoğlu. The minister did not specify who he blames for slowing down the process, Kommersant reports.

Turkey applied for EU membership in 1987, but accession negotiations only began in 2005. In 2016, Türkiye cancelled visa requirement for the countries of the union. In February 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy applied for the country's accession to the EU, in June Kyiv received candidate status. Politico wrote that the EU would have to choose between Ukraine and Turkey for enlargement.