05 December 2023, Tuesday, 13:28 194

Ukraine starts negotiations with EU on security guarantees

Editor: Daria Zubkova

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Ukraine and the European Union have started negotiations on the conclusion of a bilateral agreement on security guarantees.

This is stated in a message from the Office of the President, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"On the instructions of the President of Ukraine and the Head of the Office of the Head of State, the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Ihor Zhovkva, started the first round of consultations with the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service for Peace, Security and Defense, Charles Fries, regarding the collective security guarantees of the EU," the message reads.

It is noted that these consultations took place in the development of the G7 Joint Declaration on Support for Ukraine of July 12, 2023.

"Ukraine's future membership in the EU in itself is a powerful guarantee of security for our state and the European community in general. We highly appreciate that already at this stage we are discussing concrete steps to strengthen our common security and strengthen the stability of Ukraine," Zhovkva noted.

During the consultations, the parties exchanged visions of approaches to future EU security guarantees with an emphasis on the security and defense segment.

Zhovkva noted the significant contribution of the European Union to strengthening Ukraine's security and defense capabilities, in particular by supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine through the European Peace Fund and the activities of the EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 12, the leaders of the G7 countries (G7: USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan) agreed on a joint declaration on support for Ukraine, which is a step towards concluding bilateral security agreements.

Ukraine has already started bilateral consultations with all G7 countries.