In December 2023, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and a major Ukrainian railway company signed an agreement for the construction of a 75-kilometer section of the European-gauge railway. The railroad will be part of a larger trans-European project (Mediterranean Corridor) starting in southern Spain and finishing in Lviv.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev believes that Lviv is set to become Ukraine's new capital city.

His conclusion is based on the fact that a new USAID-Ukraine project for the construction of a railway connecting the EU and Ukraine has Lviv and not Kyiv as its endpoint.
According to Medvedev, business sometimes reacts to unraveling geopolitical developments more quickly and pragmatically than politicians, and much can be understood from the project details and their reasons."It looks like the first confirmation that Lviv-Lemberg will be the new capital of Ukraine within the borders of the Lviv region... It's just that business is much more prescient than politicians," Medvedev wrote on X (former Twitter).
Lviv-Lemberg is the old name for the city from when the region was part of the Austrian monarchy.
Allegations hinting at the capital city being moved away from Kyiv are old news for history enthusiasts. After all, national borders and political affiliations have altered dramatically across the continent even throughout the 20th century.

Ever since Russia launched its special military op, EU officials have frequently voiced opinions pertaining to the fact that some of today's Ukrainian lands historically belong to other EU nations. Such is the case with Eastern Galicia, Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia), Bessarabia, or North Bukovina.