US, Ukraine sign ‘historic’ 10-year bilateral security agreement

PARIS — US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today inked what the White House called a “historic” bilateral security arrangement that binds the US and Ukraine for a decade and provides for long-term cooperation on building up Ukraine’s current defenses, its future forces and its defense industry.

“More than two years after Russia’s brutal and unprovoked assault on Ukraine, today, President Biden is stating unequivocally that United States and its partners will stand with Ukraine as it fights for its freedom and for the principles enshrined in the UN Charter,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

Speaking alongside Zelenskyy at the signing of the agreement on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy, Biden said Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot wait us out. He cannot divide us.”

The fact sheet lays out six objectives, from building and maintaining a “credible defense and deterrence capability” to helping to “sustain its fight over the long term” to accelerating “Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.”

As the latter point suggests, the White House explicitly linked the bilateral arrangement with Ukraine’s likely future accession to NATO, calling today’s agreement a “key part of Ukraine’s bridge” to the alliance.

“We are not waiting for the NATO process to be completed to make long-term commitments to Ukraine’s security to address the immediate threats they face and deter any aggression that may occur,” the White House said.

Just before his high-profile signing with Biden, Zelenskyy also signed a 10-year security arrangement with Japan on the sidelines of the G7 Summit. Zelenskyy said on X, formerly Twitter, that Tokyo pledged “security and defense assistance, humanitarian aid, technical and financial cooperation, as well as joint efforts on the Peace Formula.”

“For Japan, this type of agreement and this level of support is a breakthrough,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Today’s agreements are the latest in a string for Ukraine, which reportedly has more than a dozen already, including security arrangements with new NATO members Sweden and Finland.

While the series of bilateral deals will undoubtedly be welcome in Kyiv, the Ukrainians are unlikely to accept them as an alternative to full NATO membership — something that is not expected to be on the table for Ukraine in the near future, despite pledges from Secretary General Jens Stolttenberg that one day Ukraine will join the Western alliance.