Ukraine, U.S. hold two rounds of negotiations on security guarantees - ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said this at a meeting of U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker with journalists in Kyiv on Friday, January 12, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"As President Biden said, we, the United States, are committed to helping Ukraine defend itself and deter future aggression. And a key part of that is your security," the ambassador said, adding that in addition to the security assistance Washington has provided to Ukraine today, the United States is "also committed to thinking in the longer term."

Brink noted that the U.S. had also committed widely in a strategic sense to Ukraine's membership in NATO. Until that time, she said, there needs to be a bridge to the security guarantees that Washington wants to provide to Ukraine, and for this purpose, the G7 countries announced their security guarantees at the NATO summit in Vilnius.

"We have already started a bilateral conversation with your government, including the Office of the President and various parts of the government, where we are discussing what that bilateral security commitment would be from our side. We've had two meetings so far. Those are going to continue. The Biden administration is deeply committed to this," Brink said.

She expressed confidence that the parties would reach the announcement of guarantees, but it was still necessary to get there.

Earlier reports said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who arrived on a visit to Kyiv on Friday, had held negotiations and signed an agreement on security cooperation.