The president of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, have signed a bilateral defense agreement with which they seek to guarantee Ukraine’s defensive capacity and bring Kiev a little closer to its dream goal, full membership. right in NATO. “This agreement accelerates Ukraine’s integration into transatlantic communities. It includes important commitments from Ukraine on security, economic and democratic reforms in line with its goals of accession to the European Union and NATO,” said the White House tenant in a joint press conference broadcast on television. For his part, Zelensky assured that this is the “strongest agreement between the United States and Ukraine since our independence” (from the Soviet Union, in 1991).
The two presidents met this Thursday on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Borgo Egnazia, in southern Italy, just a week after having spoken in Paris. The new agreement, which will have a renewable term of ten years, stipulates that in the event of new aggression against Ukraine, the military authorities of the two countries will have a period of 24 hours to meet and determine how to respond.
With it, the Biden Administration seeks to send a message of calm to Ukraine and guarantee the support of the leading power in the current war or hypothetical future aggressions. Internally, he also intends to protect, to the extent possible, one of his great priorities in foreign and defense policy in the face of Donald Trump’s possible return to the White House. The Republican candidate, ahead in most of the polls, criticized again this Thursday that the United States provides military aid to Ukraine.
The pact, as White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had previously described, seeks to strengthen Ukraine’s defensive capacity and make clear that Washington’s support for the invaded country “will continue long-term into the future… especially in the area of Defense and security.” It promises military assistance, humanitarian aid and financial cooperation, and highlights the territorial integrity of the country invaded more than two years ago.
“To ensure Ukraine’s security, both sides recognize that Ukraine needs a significant military force, strong capabilities and sustained investments in its defense industrial base that are consistent with NATO standards,” the text notes. “The United States is committed to supporting Ukraine’s development of an air and missile defense system. “Both sides will take new steps to transition a modern defense architecture for Ukraine over time, with radars, interceptors and support equipment in the tactical and strategic spectrum,” he indicates.
And he declares that “the future of Ukraine lies in NATO.” A phrase of hope for Zelensky, who has already been made clear that the next summit of the Alliance, in Washington next month, will not consider kyiv’s membership.
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But, since it does not have the status of a treaty—something for which the approval of both houses of Congress would be necessary, something unthinkable today—a future president could cancel the brand-new agreement with a stroke of a pen.
Trump, who in the past had been critical of aid to Ukraine and has even claimed that he would resolve the war in a matter of 24 hours by forcing Moscow and kyiv to negotiate, did not order Republican lawmakers to block the aid package. of $61 billion that Congress approved in April after months of delay. But on a visit this Thursday to the Capitol to meet with his party’s caucus, he was critical again. As some of the conservative parliamentarians revealed, the former president asked himself “if Ukraine wins the war, what does it benefit us?”
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