Ukraine Holds Talks With US and European Partners on Security Guarantees in Brussels

Senior representatives of Ukraine, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and NATO held a working meeting in Brussels on Thursday 5 November focused on future security guarantees for Ukraine and the shape of a new European security strategy.

Rustem Umierov, head of the Ukrainian negotiating team and head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, said the consultations centered on what security commitments from Washington and other partners should look like in practice.

"The main focus of today's meetings in Brussels was security guarantees for Ukraine," Umierov said following the talks.

"Together with representatives of France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and NATO, we discussed what security guarantees from the United States and other partners should look like, as well as a new European security strategy," he added.

Umierov stressed that Kyiv's priority is to make sure any future arrangements are effective rather than symbolic. "For Ukraine, it is essential that security guarantees are not merely a political declaration but a system that works in practice," he said.

According to Umierov, work on the security guarantees is continuing, and the details of the discussions, as well as the next steps, will be made public at a later stage.

The meeting came a day after a separate round of consultations at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday 4 November. That session brought together representatives of Ukraine, the US, the UK, France, Germany, NATO, the World Bank and the European Commission to prepare a so called prosperity plan for Ukraine.

The prosperity plan is intended to define the mechanisms for Ukraine's post-war recovery and its funding in 2027. It is built on five pillars: productivity, Ukraine's integration into the EU market, investment, stronger donor coordination and reforms.

Both rounds of talks are taking place in the run up to trilateral negotiations between the United States, Ukraine and Russia scheduled for 10 and 11 November in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, where the parties are expected to focus on further steps towards peace.