(RepublicanPress.org) – The United States spearheaded an effort to bring together the G7 countries and 25 additional countries to sign a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine during NATO’s 2023 summit. Presidents Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently met at this year’s annual gathering and forged a new agreement between their respective countries.
On June 13, Biden and Zelenskyy held a joint press conference in Fasano, Italy, to discuss their newly signed agreement. Biden said their goal was to “strengthen Ukraine’s […] defense and deterrent capabilities for the long term. The US president stressed that a lasting peace in Ukraine also required the former Soviet nation to develop its own ability” to defend its autonomy and freedom now and in the future.
Biden said the new agreement laid out the two nations’ shared vision for a lasting and just peace “rooted in the [UN] charter” and international “principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.” He also praised the G7’s decision to “finalize and unlock $50 billion” of frozen Russian assets and “put that money to work for Ukraine.”
The Bilateral Security Agreement between the United States and Ukraine lays out a course of cooperation between the two parties for 10 years. However, either party can opt out of the agreement after providing a six-month notice. Likewise, both countries can expand the agreement’s scope and extend its termination, provided both nations agree to the new terms.
The document details the two nations’ principles of cooperation, defense and security strategies, and cooperation on economic reform and recovery. The agreement also discusses institutional reforms in Ukraine to advance European-Atlantic integration, establishing a just peace that respects Ukraine’s rights, and other assorted long-term goals.
Some websites and independent journalists predicted that Biden would give Ukraine a blank check once they signed the agreement. However, the signed document only mentioned funds for Ukraine three times. The first instance discussed the US standing policy of ” supporting providing sustainable levels of security assistance for Ukraine” by seeking “the appropriation of funds” from Congress.
The second instance noted that the “cooperation and activities” detailed in the new agreement “shall be subject to the availability of funds. The third recitation of the term restated the two countries’ intention to “implement the commitments” under an attached annex “consistent with the applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriated funds.”
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