Ukraine and US sign decade-long bilateral security agreement

During the June 13 G7 summit, the United States and Ukraine signed a 10-year bilateral agreement on security assurances. Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky, leaders from the two countries, personally signed the document.

Reuters reports this.

According to the article, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden have signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement with the goal of bolstering Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression.

The US will commit to:

• continuing to train the Ukrainian military for 10 years,
• developing cooperation in the production of weapons and military equipment,
• continuing to provide military assistance,
• and strengthening the exchange of intelligence.

According to the agreement's text, it should be a step toward Ukraine's possible membership in NATO.

The text emphasizes that "the parties recognize that this agreement supports the bridge to Ukraine's possible membership in the NATO alliance."

The agreement also states that in the event of an armed attack or threat of such an attack on Ukraine, top US and Ukrainian officials will meet within 24 hours to consult on the response and determine what additional defense Ukraine needs.

"The United States intends to provide long-term material support, training, and consulting, provision, intelligence, security, defense-industrial, institutional, and other support for the development of Ukrainian security and defense forces capable of defending a sovereign, independent, democratic Ukraine and deterring future aggression," the document reads.

However, it does not provide a specific amount of money for the military support of Ukraine.

It should be noted that the Ukrainian authorities have been negotiating with Washington regarding the agreement since last year. However, the dialogue was temporarily suspended when the US Congress could not pass a bill providing assistance to Ukraine. Discussions resumed after its approval.

As President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted, Kyiv made significant efforts to make this agreement the strongest among all others. This encompasses military, economic, and political assistance. The president also expressed that the agreement with the United States is "unprecedented, as it belongs to the leaders of Ukraine's support."

It is worth mentioning that on June 13, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida signed a bilateral agreement on support for Ukraine and cooperation.

For reference:

On July 12, 2023, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, the leaders of the G7 countries agreed on a Joint Declaration on support for Ukraine. The document discussed, in particular, the work on specific bilateral long-term obligations and agreements in the field of security.

In January, President Volodymyr Zelensky approved the composition of the delegation for negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine. According to the decree of the head of state, the delegation was headed by the head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak.

As of today, Ukraine has already signed bilateral security agreements with 15 countries.

In total, 32 countries joined this initiative. Great Britain became the first country to sign a final agreement.