Ireland preparing security agreement with Ukraine, Zelensky says

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Ireland is preparing the first steps towards drafting a security agreement with Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 14, after meeting with Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris the day before.

Ukraine has recently signed security agreements with Poland, Luxembourg, and Romania, based on a pledge made by the Group of Seven (G7) in July 2023.

The Presidential Office is now working on agreements with Czechia, Slovenia, and Ireland, Zelensky said on Telegram.

Zelensky briefly stopped at Shannon Airport in Ireland on July 13 on his way back to Ukraine from the NATO Summit in Washington.

Harris said he had a "very good meeting" with Zelensky, and had discussed a potential bilateral agreement on demining, energy, humanitarian assistance, and food security.

Ireland has a policy of neutrality, is not a member of NATO, and has one of the lowest rates of defense spending across the EU, at around 0.2% of its GDP.

Its government has remained committed to not providing lethal military aid to Kyiv, but has recognized Russia's war against Ukraine as genocide.

The country has also taken in around 100,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.