Kuleba, Di Maio discuss security guarantees for Ukraine

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio have discussed cooperation between the two countries and security guarantees for Ukraine.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy announced this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

"I thanked @luigidimaio for Italy’s leadership on sanctions, including an oil embargo, and arms deliveries to Ukraine. We discussed facilitating trade between our countries and security guarantees for Ukraine. I stressed the importance of granting Ukraine EU candidate status," Kuleba said.

In an interview with China's Xinhua news agency, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reportedly said that Ukraine was exploring security guarantees from permanent members of the UN Security Council and other major powers, including China, and had already offered China to become one of the guarantors.

Earlier, Kuleba called on international partners to decide what security guarantees they are ready to provide to Ukraine in the event of future aggression.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 28 that after the Budapest Memorandum proved ineffective, Ukraine seeks to develop a fundamental document on security guarantees, which would provide maximum, real protection for the country. The head of state said that the draft document is currently being prepared at the level of security advisers to the leaders of the countries, which will later become guarantors of Ukraine's security.