Vilnius (Agencies)
Yesterday, the Group of Seven pledged in Vilnius to provide “long-term” military support to Ukraine, in a move that Kiev saw as bringing it closer to joining NATO, and in no way a substitute for this membership.
“We will work with Ukraine on specific, long-term bilateral security commitments, to ensure a sustainable force capable of defending Ukraine,” Britain, France, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan said in a statement.
And the seven countries added in the statement they issued on the sidelines of the meetings of the second and final day of the NATO summit in Vilnius: “We intend to provide rapid and continuous security assistance to Ukraine, and advanced military equipment in the land, sea and air fields, in addition to providing economic assistance.”
The seven major industrialized countries made these pledges to Kiev almost 18 months after the start of the Ukrainian crisis.
In turn, the Kremlin considered that the security guarantees that the West intends to provide to Ukraine would be a grave mistake.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the security guarantees, stressing at the same time that they cannot replace his country’s request to join the alliance, expressing his country’s understanding of Ukraine’s fears of joining NATO “currently”.
Zelensky also expressed his confidence that Ukraine will join NATO after the end of the crisis.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that any attack targeting any member state of the alliance is an attack on the countries of the alliance as a whole, so the United States especially fears the possibility of being drawn into a potential conflict with Russia if Ukraine becomes a member of the alliance.
But Zelinsky tried yesterday to mitigate his disappointment, considering that the pledges that his country obtained constituted a “major security victory” for it.
“The Ukrainian delegation brings home a great security victory for Ukraine, for our country, for our people, for our children,” Zelensky said after participating in the Atlantic Summit.
Yesterday, in Vilnius, US President Joe Biden confirmed that while waiting for the alliance to open the door to membership in Kiev, the G-7 will help Ukraine build a strong army with defense capabilities “on land, sea and air,” stressing that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO.” ».
The G7 pledges constitute a framework for the conclusion of bilateral agreements at a later time between these countries and Kiev, which include details of the weapons that Kiev will supply for a period of ten years.
On the first day of the Atlantic Summit yesterday, the leaders of the member states of the military alliance affirmed that “the future of Ukraine is in NATO” and shortened somewhat the process that Kiev must follow to join the organization.
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