Work on details of security guarantees for Ukraine to continue in coming weeks – EC spokeswoman

The European Commission has said that work on the details of possible security guarantees for Ukraine, similar to NATO's Article 5, will continue in the coming weeks. As of today, there are no specifics on what these guarantees will look like.

This was reported on Tuesday in Brussels by European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta.

She recalled that this issue was discussed during a meeting of EU and Ukrainian leaders with US President Donald Trump in Washington. "The President (Ursula von der Leyen) welcomed the commitment of the United States to participate in these security guarantees. She herself said on Sunday that we could consider security guarantees similar to Article 5. And she also confirmed that the EU is, of course, already contributing to this, continuing to strengthen Ukraine's armed forces and at the same time strengthening European defense," Podesta said.

According to her, at this stage there are no specific messages on what these security guarantees will look like. "I can say that the teams will continue to work on the details of these security guarantees also in the coming weeks. This includes teams from the United States, from European countries that were represented at the meeting, and, of course, also with representatives of the Commission," the EC spokeswoman detailed.

Podesta noted that there is no specific timeframe for this work, and the exchange of information will continue at a technical level. "At the moment, the Coalition of the Willing is meeting, and after that the EU with all European countries will be ready to contribute to resolving this topic. We will also have to see how the negotiations progress. Of course, this is all preparatory work, but it will become even more relevant after the bilateral meeting (between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin) takes place," she explained.

Speaking about possible bilateral talks, Podesta recalled that President Putin had previously refused to meet with President Zelenskyy. "So of course we welcome the fact that he has now changed his mind and told President Trump that he is ready to participate in such a meeting," said an EC spokeswoman.

According to her, there is no specific information at this stage on the formats or timing of this meeting. "Of course, for our part, we will continue to work with our European partners, with President Zelenskyy and President Trump, to prepare it in the best possible way," Podesta added.