Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia and Hungary have launched the Kyiv Initiative, a new format of cooperation between the countries.
This format brings together Ukraine's immediate neighbours and close partners, the president's office said on its Facebook page.
Advisers to the heads of states and governments of these countries arrived in Kyiv on 22 August. In particular, the state secretary and representative of President Andrzej Duda arrived from Poland, and the presidential adviser for foreign affairs from Lithuania. The representative of Hungary stressed at the briefing the importance of humanitarian aspects. Estonia is represented by an adviser the prime minister.
The new format is seen as a platform to discuss common security challenges for the Central and Eastern European region in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
"The goal that we have set and achieved is to coordinate joint efforts. We have talked about many things today. First and foremost is security. We have informed our colleagues about the situation on the front, about what we need for more success. We talked about the extension of the sanctions list, security guarantees," presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.
The Kyiv Initiative is planned to meet by video link monthly. The circle of participants may expand.
The second summit of the Crimean Platform initiative is scheduled for tomorrow. Around 60 countries and international organizations have confirmed their participation.