PARIS, January 17. /TASS/. France and Ukraine are poised to sign a deal on security guarantees in the coming weeks in accordance with agreements voiced after the NATO summit in Vilnius, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters.
"We are cooperating closely with our European and UK partners. We are about to complete drafting a bilateral agreement, which is to be finalized in the coming weeks. It contains elements of [security] guarantees," he said.
On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, the Group of Seven adopted a declaration on long-term security guarantees to Ukraine. More countries jointed the declaration later. In particular, the document promises a considerable military potential for Ukraine. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov slammed this decision as erroneous and potentially dangerous. The Kiev government plans to sign first bilateral agreements with European countries by the end of the year. Ukraine has already started talks on security guarantees with the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, France, Japan and Germany.
On January 12, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signed a bilateral agreement on security. Thus, London has become Kiev’s first Western partner to sign such an agreement.