On 15 July, the European Union (EU) and Ukraine held the third Cyber Dialogue in Brussels, Belgium. Amid the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s start of accession talks to the EU, the EU and Ukraine agreed to further deepen cooperation on cyber security. The EU continues to be strongly committed to fully support Ukraine’s resilience capabilities against cyber-attacks and disruptions of critical infrastructure.

During the dialogue, the EU and Ukraine underlined their strong commitment to the UN framework of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace, grounded in the application of international law and norms of responsible state behaviour. They agreed to further strengthen cooperation on cyber diplomacy in international fora.

The EU and Ukraine discussed the evolving cyber threat landscape, shared recent updates on latest legislative developments, in view of Ukraine’s alignment, including on the Network and Information Security (NIS) 2 Directive and product security and certification, and discussed related efforts to build cyber resilience and cyber defences. They further explored practical cooperation efforts to prevent, detect, deter and respond to malicious cyber activities, notably by strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure and supply chains as well as through the use of the EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox. Moreover, in a context where the use of cyber operations have enabled and accompanied Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and continue to affected global stability and security, they agreed to enhance exchanges on situational awareness, assessment of cyber risks, cyber crisis management as well as around the use of the EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox and its cyber sanctions regime. 

The EU has significantly stepped up its cyber support to Ukraine since the beginning of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian war of aggression in February 2022 and is committed to continue to support Ukraine to strengthen its cyber resilience, reinforce interaction and support on prevention, detection, deterrence and response to cyber threats, notably as regards critical infrastructure and networks. Flagship projects, such as “CyberEast” aiming at improving cyber resilience in the Eastern Partnership countries will also continue. Moreover, cyber support efforts will be coordinated with Member States and partners, including through the Tallinn Mechanism. The EU and Ukraine also discussed the pathways that could allow Ukraine to benefit from the use of the EU Cybersecurity Reserve as well as to organise additional trainings for civilian and military entities based on Ukraine’s needs by the European Security and Defence College, the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) and the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM).  

The EU and Ukraine are committed to continue the strong cooperation among relevant authorities, including the structured cooperation ensured through the working arrangement with EU’s Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) and operational agreement with Europol. In the context of a shared commitment to a resilient cyber partnership, the EU and Ukraine agreed to advance on concrete operational results with a view to holding the 4^th EU-Ukraine Cyber Dialogue in 2025.

The dialogue was co-chaired by Manon LE BLANC, Coordinator for Cyber Issues and Acting Head of Division Hybrid Threats and Cyber at the European External Action Service (EEAS), Christiane KIRKETERP de VIRON acting Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity, Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission, and by Volodymyr KARASTELOV, Acting Head of the Cyber Department, Security Service of Ukraine; with participation from the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) and Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) of the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), CERT-EU, the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre, Europol, European Security and Defence College, European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM), European Union Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM), the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, Cyber Security Situation Center of Security Service of Ukraine, General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also present.