In a joint declaration adopted on the fringes of the NATO summit in Vilnius, the G7 (Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the EU) pledged, on Wednesday 12 July, to strengthen its security cooperation with Ukraine, while it “pursues a pathway toward future membership in the Euro-Atlantic community”.
“The declaration will enable all countries wishing to support Ukraine to follow suit” with the G7, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose country holds the presidency of the G7. He hoped that many countries would participate. French President Emmanuel Macron said that several partners had already announced their commitment.
“The long-term commitments we’re making are backed up by the notion that in the meantime we’re going to provide security to Ukraine for its needs and against any aggression that may occur”, explained US President Joe Biden.
According to the declaration, on 12 July the G7 members will begin “negotiations with Ukraine to formalise – through bilateral security commitments and agreements aligned with this multilateral framework (...) – our enduring support to Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty and territorial integrity, rebuilds its economy, protects its citizens, and pursues integration into the Euro-Atlantic community”. They announced that they will ask their teams to begin discussions immediately.
In practical terms, the G7 countries will each work with Ukraine on “specific, bilateral and long-term” security commitments and agreements aimed at ensuring a sustainable force capable of defending Ukraine today and deterring Russian aggression in the future.
Participating countries will do this by continuing to provide security assistance and modern military equipment, support for the further development of Ukraine’s defence industrial base, training and exercises, intelligence sharing and cooperation, and support for cyber defence, security and resilience initiatives.
“We’re going to help Ukraine build a strong, capable defence across land, air and sea – it will be a force for stability in the region and deter against any and all threats”, explained Joe Biden.
The G7 also pledges to strengthen Ukraine’s economic stability and resilience, and to provide technical and financial support to address the country’s immediate needs arising from the war, and to enable it to continue to implement an “effective” reform programme that will support the good governance necessary to advance its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
In addition, the G7 countries stress their intention, in the event of a new armed attack by Russia, to consult immediately with Ukraine to determine the measures to be taken. “We will work with Ukraine on an enhanced package of security commitments and agreements in case of future aggression, to enable Ukraine to defend its territory and sovereignty”, they declare.
In return, Ukraine is committed to “contributing positively to partner security and to strengthen transparency and accountability measures with regard to partner assistance”. Kyiv will continue to implement rule of law and security sector reforms, and advance defence reform and modernisation, “including by strengthening democratic civilian control of the military and improving efficiency and transparency across Ukraine’s defence institutions and industry”.
Efforts that the EU and its Member States are ready to support. They “will swiftly consider the modalities of this contribution”, states the G7 declaration. “The EU will be an essential partner” for Ukraine’s long-term security and economic prosperity within the Euro-Atlantic community, promised the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a press release.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, welcomed “a very important set of security guarantees”, saying that this represented an “ important victory” for his country’s security. In his view, while these guarantees are no substitute for NATO membership, they are a “very concrete step forward”. He said that these guarantees are “tangible elements” and that they will bring his country closer to NATO. “For us, the best guarantee of security is membership” of the organisation, he reiterated.
According to the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, these guarantees are “strong signal” to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. “We can never see a repeat of what has happened in Ukraine and this declaration reaffirms our commitment to ensure it is never left vulnerable to the kind of brutality Russia has inflicted on it again”, he added.
Even before the declaration was officially adopted, the Kremlin had said that by offering these security guarantees to Ukraine, the G7 countries were “undermining Russia’s security”. These guarantees will make Europe “much more dangerous for years and years to come”, according to the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitri Peskov.
To see the declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/816
First ever NATO/Ukraine Council
Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian President had joined his allied counterparts for the first ever NATO-Ukraine Council. “The NATO-Ukraine Council is not just a tool for participation, it is a tool for integration. It gives us the feeling that we will be part of the Alliance. I am confident that, after the war, Ukraine will be in NATO. We will do everything for this”, stressed Mr Zelensky on Twitter.
Earlier in the day, in front of the media, the Ukrainian president had shown himself to be more moderate than the day before, when he had criticised the formulation of the Allies concerning his country’s future in NATO. “The results of the summit were good, but if there had been an invitation, they would have been ideal”, he explained. For him, however, the summit was a “structuring moment ", with Mr Zelensky comparing it to obtaining candidate status for EU membership. In particular, he welcomed the fact that the Allies had decided to abolish the Membership Action Plan (MAP).
“The partners support us so that we can live, but above all, we must survive; this requires rapid processes”, he added, clearly understanding that his country would not be a member of the Alliance “as long as war rages on (its) territory”.
F-16 Training Coalition
On Tuesday 11 July, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom announced the creation of a joint coalition to train members of the Ukrainian Air Force in the operation and maintenance of F-16 fighters. According to Mr Stoltenberg, training could begin this summer. “The coalition’s focus will be on training, but will also in due course be ready to consider other lines of effort related to ensuring Ukraine a fully functional F-16 capability”, says a Canadian statement. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)