On 17 May, EU-Ukraine political consultations took place in Brussels. The delegations were headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Perebyinis and the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service Mr Enrique Mora.

The parties discussed a number of topical issues of the international agenda and cooperation between Ukraine and the EU.

Yevhen Perebyinis thanked the EU for its significant support in countering Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.

The Deputy Minister briefed the European partners on the security situation and the consequences of Russia's recent missile attacks against Ukraine's critical and civilian infrastructure. Special attention was paid to attracting assistance from the EU member states to strengthen Ukraine's air defence with modern systems.

Yevhen Perebyinis and Enrique Mora discussed in detail the preparations for the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland on 15-16 June. The two sides reiterated the common position of Ukraine and the EU on the importance of the Summit's success as a signal of global unity on the need to achieve a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.

In the context of the EU-Ukraine bilateral agenda, the Ukrainian side stressed the importance of ensuring positive dynamics in the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU and expressed hope for the earliest possible start of accession negotiations.

The two sides exchanged views on the high-level political dialogue, especially the EU-Ukraine Summit. In this context, the parties stressed the importance of finalising decisions and agreements on a number of issues, including the use of profits from frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's defence needs, the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, and the signing of the EU security guarantees for Ukraine.

Following the EU-Ukraine political consultations, the parties agreed on practical steps to strengthen coordination in jointly addressing the challenges posed by Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.