© Reuters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausida hold a flag as they attend the ceremony of handing over the Ukrainian flag from the front line of the war with Russia by activists, on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO leaders.
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Written by John Irish and Niclas Pollard
VILNIUS (Reuters) – The Group of Seven nations on Wednesday unveiled an international framework for Ukraine’s long-term security to bolster its defenses against Russia and deter Moscow from future aggression, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met NATO leaders at a summit of the 31-nation Western alliance, a day after they declared that Ukraine’s future lay within NATO, but rejected his call for a timetable for membership.
Unable to join NATO while the war with Russia continues — given that NATO’s Article 5, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all, could push it into war with Russia — Ukraine, however, has reaped the rewards in present form. and the long-term security commitments she pressed for.
NATO has conspicuously refrained from providing military assistance to Ukraine as an organization, to avoid direct conflict with Russia, and is keen to continue to leave that to member states and others.
Britain, France, Germany and the United States have been negotiating with Kiev for weeks on a multilateral text to create a broad international framework that includes elements including advanced military equipment, such as combat aircraft, as well as training, information sharing and cyber defence.
The G7 said in a statement: “Today we begin negotiations with Ukraine to formalize — through bilateral security commitments and arrangements compatible with this multilateral framework, and in accordance with our own legal and constitutional requirements — our enduring support for Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
US President Joe Biden said at the plan’s signing ceremony that it was “a powerful statement of our commitment to Ukraine.”
Zelensky said: “Today there are security guarantees for Ukraine on the way to NATO…they will be further extended through arrangements with our main partners.”
“Our delegation is achieving a major security victory for Ukraine,” he added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the G7 move misleading and “potentially very dangerous” for the West to give Ukraine security guarantees that he said violated Russia’s security.
Moscow cited NATO’s eastern expansion toward its borders as a factor in its decision last year to invade western-leaning Ukraine, once part of the old Russian-dominated Soviet Union.
The G7, which includes the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Canada, Italy and Britain as well as the European Union, said other countries could also sign up to make their own commitments.
The declaration said the G7 nations would begin bilateral talks with Ukraine immediately.
“The new document should be valid as long as Ukraine is not a member of NATO,” Zelensky told a separate news conference. “Today’s announcement opens up that possibility with strong bilateral agreements,” he continued, adding that the best guarantee remains in the coalition itself.
Time is not on the Russian side.
In return, the G7 statement said, Ukraine will promise to take measures to improve democratic governance, including through judicial and economic reforms and enhanced transparency.
“We will work with Ukraine on an enhanced package of commitments and security arrangements in the event of future aggression to enable Ukraine to defend its territory and sovereignty,” the G7 said.
“This multilateral declaration will send an important signal to Russia that time is not on its side,” a White House official told reporters.
A US official said Washington would begin its own negotiations with Kiev soon. President Joe Biden has spoken of using US support for Israel as a possible model.
US military aid to Israel is worth about $3.5 billion annually, but the relationship also entails a great deal of political support.
Germany has already said it will initially provide 12 billion euros in military support to Ukraine until 2032, including 3.2 billion euros for 2023.
France, which said on Tuesday it would supply long-range cruise missiles to Kiev for the first time, is negotiating with Ukraine but may face tough debates in parliament as it debates its military budget from 2025 to 2030.
Speaking to reporters, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said his country and others intended to send personnel to Ukraine after the war to continue training its armed forces.
(This story has been paraphrased to remove misrepresentation from paragraph 15)