Ukraine and Sweden to start bilateral talks on security guarantees
Ukrainian and Swedish Foreign Ministers Dmytro Kuleba and Tobias Billström agreed to start negotiations on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees to follow up on the G7 Vilnius Declaration.
Kuleba discussed the European integration of Ukraine, particularly the work on the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU this year with his Swedish counterpart.
During our call, @TobiasBillstrom and I agreed to begin talks on a bilateral 🇺🇦🇸🇪agreement on security guarantees following G7 Vilnius Declaration. We also discussed Ukraine's European integration. Working together on the path to opening Ukraine's EU accession talks this year.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 4, 2023
Ukraine has repeatedly insisted that there is no need to create security guarantees to help repel another possible Russian invasion before Ukraine becomes a NATO member.
At the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries agreed on a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine. The declaration, which provides for security guarantees, was signed by 28 countries.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv will sign the first bilateral agreements on security guarantees with its allies by the end of 2023.
