NATO summit on its second day: Westerners present Ukraine with their security commitment plan
Westerners present a plan for long-term commitments to Ukraine’s security today, Wednesday, on the second day of a NATO summit that disappointed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had hoped for a specific timetable for his country’s accession to the alliance.
And Zelensky, who strongly criticized the leaders of NATO countries for their lack of will to join Ukraine, on Tuesday evening, had dinner with them after receiving him from a large crowd in the center of the Lithuanian capital.
The Ukrainian leader will hold talks with the leaders on Wednesday. In an attempt to reassure him, the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) are supposed to publish a joint statement on supporting Kiev in the coming years, in order to help it fight Russia and confront any future aggressions.
A White House official said the United States will announce a plan for security guarantees for Ukraine at an event on Wednesday with the G7 members.
Amanda Sloat, Director of Europe at the National Security Council at the White House, added, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, that the military alliance’s message regarding expectations regarding Ukraine’s accession to the alliance was positive.
“From our point of view, it is a strong and promising message,” she said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “As Ukraine makes strategic progress in its counter-offensive (…) we are increasing our efforts to protect Ukraine in the long term.”
“We do not want to see a repeat of what happened in Ukraine, and this statement reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that Ukraine is never again vulnerable to the kind of aggression perpetrated by Russia,” he added.
The statement will constitute a framework for concluding bilateral agreements at a later time, between these countries and Kiev, that include details of the weapons that Kiev will supply for a period of ten years.
“absurd”
Western donors have so far sent tens of billions of euros worth of weapons to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invasion.
Today, Wednesday, the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, Sergey Popko, said on the “Telegram” platform that Russia launched a drone attack on the city of Kiev for the second day in a row.
He added that the attack, which was launched by Iranian-made “Shahid” explosive drones, was completely repelled, noting that “there is no information about casualties or destruction so far.”
On Tuesday, Germany said it would provide more tanks, Patriot defense missiles and armored vehicles, worth an additional 700 million euros.
France announced the dispatch of long-range “Scalp” missiles, while an alliance of 11 countries confirmed that it would start training Ukrainian pilots on the “F-16” aircraft, starting next month.
But these necessary promises to the Ukrainian forces do not meet the aspirations of Zelensky, who wanted to put Kiev under the umbrella of the collective defense of NATO.
On the first day of their summit, the leaders of the member states of this military alliance promised that “Ukraine’s future” is “in NATO” and shortened the process that Kiev would have to follow to join the organization.
And they said in a statement: “We will be able to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance, when the allies decide and the conditions for that are met.”
This declaration does not go further than a commitment made in 2008 regarding its future accession. The United States, the world’s first military power, is concerned about the possibility of being drawn into a potential nuclear conflict with Russia.
Even before the NATO statement was published, Zelensky described not setting a deadline for Ukraine’s accession as “absurd,” and said that “uncertainty is a weakness.”
In order to convince Zelensky that his country is getting closer to the alliance, the first meeting of the Council of Ukraine and NATO will be held in Vilnius.
This will allow the Ukrainian president to sit around the table to set an agenda for talks with the alliance, even if his country’s accession to the club is still far away.
On the sidelines of this meeting, Zelensky will meet a number of leaders, including US President Joe Biden, in order to obtain increased support.
Later, the US President will also deliver a speech at Vilnius University, affirming Washington’s commitment to defending every inch of NATO’s territory.
(AFP, Reuters)
#NATO #summit #day #Westerners #present #Ukraine #pledge #plan
2023-07-12 07:37:54
