2023-07-12 06:59:36
Westerners must present, Wednesday, July 12, a plan of long-term commitments for the security of Ukraine, on the second day of a NATO summit which disappointed the hopes of President Volodymyr Zelensky to obtain a precise timetable for the accession of his country to the Alliance.
Ukrainian President, who sharply reproached the leaders of the NATO countries for their lack of will to integrate Ukrainedined with the latter on Tuesday evening, shortly following being cheered by a crowd gathered in the city center of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
The Ukrainian leader is due to have a series of talks on Wednesday. In an attempt to reassure him, the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom) should issue a joint statement on support for Kiev in the years to come, in order to help him to fight Russia and counter future aggression.
“As Ukraine makes strategic progress in its counter-offensive…we are increasing our efforts to protect Ukraine in the long term,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
“We do not want to see a repeat of what happened in Ukraine. This statement reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that Ukraine is never more vulnerable to the type of aggression committed by Russia.” he added.
The joint declaration will provide a framework for the subsequent conclusion of bilateral agreements between these countries and Kyiv, detailing the weapons they will provide.
US President Joe Biden has already offered Ukraine a model similar to the one with Israel, under which Washington pledged to provide that country with military aid of $3.8 billion a year over a period of ten years.
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Western donors have already sent weapons worth tens of billions of euros to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invasion.
On Tuesday, Germany said it would provide more tanks, Patriot defense missiles and armored vehicles, worth an additional 700 million euros.
France has announced the shipment of long-range “Scalp” missiles to Ukraine, and an 11-nation coalition has said it will begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets from next month.
“Uncertainty is a weakness”
But these promises, although necessary for the Ukrainian troops, do not meet the aspirations of Volodymyr Zelenskywhich wanted to place kyiv under the collective defense umbrella of NATO.
The leaders of the member countries of this military alliance promised, on the first day of their summit, that “the future of Ukraine” was “in NATO”, and shortened the process that Kiev would have to follow to join the organization .
“We will be able to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when the Allies have decided and the conditions are met,” said a statement.
A declaration that does not go much further than the commitment made in 2008 regarding future membership. The United States, the first military power, is worried regarding being drawn into a possible nuclear conflict with Russia.
Even before the publication of the NATO press release, Volodymyr Zelensky had described as “absurd” the fact of not setting a deadline for membership. “Uncertainty is a weakness,” he thundered.
In order to convince Volodymyr Zelensky that his country is getting closer to the Alliance, a first meeting of a Ukraine-NATO council will take place in Vilnius. This allows the Ukrainian leader to sit around the table to set the agenda for talks with the Alliance, even if he is still far from being a member of the club.
On the sidelines of this meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with several leaders, including Joe Biden, in order to obtain increased support.
Later, the US president will also deliver a speech at Vilnius University, in which he will outline Washington’s commitment to defending every square inch of NATO territory.
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