MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Ukraine and the United States have begun talks on providing security guarantees to Kiev, said Andrey Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office.

"Today, Ukraine started negotiations with the United States about a bilateral agreement on security guarantees," the official wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday. "This was envisaged by a joint declaration in support of Ukraine, adopted during the NATO summit in Vilnius, which serves as a basis for drafting corresponding bilateral agreements."

Yermak added that the United States became "the first country to begin this process with Ukraine," setting an example for other partners.

On July 31, Office of the President of Ukraine Head Andrey Yermak announced that Kiev and Washington were about to initiate bilateral talks on security guarantees. Biden administration officials later confirmed this information. US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the negotiations would begin this week. According to him, the talks on security guarantees will be held in line with the commitments that the G7 nations made on the sidelines of NATO’s Vilnius summit.