MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/: Western countries' statements about providing security guarantees to Ukraine are empty, groundless excuses, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"Security guarantees presuppose the words 'guarantees' and 'security' and, overall, a range of certain characteristics as well, but these are missing here. No one here can even say anything about it, so these are empty, absolutely groundless excuses that are becoming more and more numerous," the diplomat told Sputnik Radio.
Zakharova also highlighted Tuesday's statement by EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano that the EU cannot provide security guarantees to Ukraine because it is not a military organization.
According to the diplomat, the EU is currently unable to guarantee anything, even directly within the bloc itself, due to a "political and ideological deadlock." "They cannot guarantee themselves anything; they cannot guarantee a stable supply of energy resources, which they need like an organism needs blood. They can't guarantee themselves even that. They can't even afford an investigation to determine who undermined their energy security. <...> They themselves have become vassals of a single colonial power," Zakharova pointed out.
Andrey Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, earlier said that Kiev would begin consultations in the coming weeks on security guarantees with those countries that signed the relevant declaration at the NATO summit in Vilnius. On August 3, Yermak announced the start of consultations with the United States on security guarantees. This process will create a model for other partners, he said.
The G7 adopted a declaration on long-term security guarantees for Ukraine on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12. In particular, the document states that Kiev should receive significant military capabilities. Later, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that 12 other countries had joined the initiative: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Denmark.
