Ukraine and US begin talks on security guarantees

(Patria) - Ukraine and the United States have started talks on security guarantees for Ukraine, said the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, following up on the promise of G7 countries at last month's NATO summit, Reuters reports.

Ukraine was told that the Group of Seven (G7) would draw up and respect security guarantees and help strengthen the military in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Kyiv sees the talks as a transitional phase until NATO accession. At the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO leaders offered support to Ukraine but rejected any idea of membership until the war with Russia is resolved.

The head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, writing on Telegram, said that the agreement reached in Vilnius is "the basis for drafting corresponding bilateral agreements."

"It is symbolic that the United States - our largest strategic partner - has become the first country with which Ukraine has started this process," Yermak wrote. "Through this process, we will create a successful model for other partners," he added.

G7 members agreed that each nation would negotiate agreements.

Yermak reiterated Ukraine's stance that the guarantees "will strengthen Ukraine on the path to future membership in the Euro-Atlantic community, including NATO and the European Union."

Yermak did not say where the talks took place nor who participated, but a photo accompanying his post shows him sitting at a table in what appeared to be the office of the Ukrainian president in the capital, Kyiv.