In the final sessions of a G7 summit in Southern Italy that produced a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, US President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a 10-year-security pact that locked in American military aid and training through a presidential executive agreement with the current US administration.
It also includes promises to build Ukraine’s military and its own domestic weapons manufacturing.
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“Today is a truly historic day,” Zelensky said at a joint press conference with Biden after signing the security agreement. “Our security agreement is a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”
The White House, for its part, has maintained that Ukraine should have a path to membership in the Alliance but has excluded any possibility that this could happen while the Russian invasion is still ongoing.
Biden said the security agreement should strongly signal to Russia that “Putin cannot wait us out.”
“Today, the United States is sending a powerful signal of our strong support for Ukraine now and into the future,” a statement from the Biden administration read.
Specifically, the agreement lays out that Washington and Kyiv must consult with each other within 24 hours “at the highest levels” after any future armed attack by Russia.
Agence France Presse (AFP) noted that this was the 15th such bilateral agreement that allies have inked with Ukraine, including a pact with Japan also signed at the summit in the Italian region of Puglia.
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In response to Zelensky’s regular calls for more air defense systems for Ukraine, especially as Russian air strikes have destroyed more than half of Ukraine’s power-generating infrastructure, Biden said that five countries had already pledged to give US-made Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
He noted that these countries would have to wait for manufacturers Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin to replenish their stocks until Ukraine’s needs were met.
Zelensky also mentioned that China's leader, Xi Jinping, had promised not to send weapons to Russia. However, Biden pointed out that China was still supporting Russia's war effort economically and industrially.
The US-Ukraine agreement is similar to the one the US has with Israel, where the US provides arms for Israel's fight against Hamas. The Ukraine agreement is meant to ensure future U.S. administrations continue supporting Ukraine, but Trump could potentially end it if he wins the election.
Despite this, US officials believe the agreement will create lasting support for Ukraine.
Japan also signed a similar security pact with Ukraine at the G7 summit. In the past year, Ukraine has signed at least 15 such deals with major Western supporters to secure long-term defense commitments.
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