Ukraine opened Cluster 6, “External Relations,” in its EU negotiation talks on Tuesday, July 14. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos confirmed the development on social media, matching the timeline previously confirmed by Kyiv Post’s diplomatic sources after Budapest dropped its veto.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Kos said the cluster covers “security and defense,” an area where Ukraine is “especially strong.” “On this Super Tuesday for EU enlargement, we opened Cluster 6 with Ukraine, covering security and defense,” Kos wrote on X. “In these areas, the case for Ukraine’s EU membership is especially strong. With its military experience and innovation capacities, Ukraine is indispensable to Europe’s future security architecture,” she added. The update came a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Paris to announce Ukraine’s “Freyja” anti-ballistic missile system, a joint development project with Europe, with a 12-month goal of developing an affordable, mass-produced system capable of protecting Ukraine and the wider continent. Sybiha said Chapter 31 of the cluster – which covers foreign, security and defense policy – falls under the foreign ministry’s responsibility and hailed progress in aligning reforms with the EU.