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Officials said they hoped the agreement would transcend domestic political divisions in the United States, but acknowledged that Trump or any future president could withdraw from the legally binding executive agreement because it is not a treaty and would not be ratified by Congress. It also does not make any new commitments to Ukraine’s prospects of joining the NATO defense alliance, which remains a distant prospect.
“We want to make clear that the United States supports the Ukrainian people, that we stand with them, and that we will continue to help address their security needs, not just tomorrow but well into the future,” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One as the president flew to the southern Italian region of Puglia for a summit of Group of Seven leaders.
Sullivan said Washington would strengthen Ukraine’s “credible defense and deterrence capabilities.” “If (Russian President) Vladimir Putin thinks he can outlast the coalition that supports Ukraine, he is mistaken.”
The future of the deal remains unclear as Trump leads Biden in multiple polls. Trump has at times expressed skepticism about Ukraine continuing to fight. Has said the war between Russia and Ukraine will end within 24 hoursand urged Europe to shoulder more of the burden of supporting Kiev. But he also finally agreed to Congress’s approval of aid to Ukraine this spring.
The deal came after months of negotiations that began last August, just a month after a NATO summit, with the Biden administration among the least willing to offer Ukraine a fast-track path to NATO membership. Officials instead proposed a series of bilateral security agreements to establish another form of organized, binding, long-term support for Kyiv.
However, soon after the negotiations began, billions of dollars in short-term U.S. military aid to Ukraine became entangled in Congress, with skeptical House Republicans delaying approval of new funds until April — a seven-month deadline. Discussions of a 10-year agreement were shelved. U.S. officials saw little point in talking about a long-term commitment to Ukraine when they could not muster support for the immediate fighting.
Biden on Thursday will join 15 other countries that have signed bilateral agreements with Ukraine, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy. Another 16 countries have pledged to eventually sign similar agreements. Officials expect countries to coordinate how to fulfill their aid pledges, possibly starting with a NATO leaders’ summit in Washington next month, although not every country that signs a deal with Kiev is a NATO member.
An administration official said the deal does not require Washington to send troops to defend Ukraine if it is attacked, unlike NATO’s “all for one, one for all” mutual defense commitment. The official, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of the agreement before it is made public. There is also no specific figure for the amount of aid Washington will provide to Ukraine.
But the agreement commits the United States to high-level consultations with Kiev within 24 hours if Ukraine is attacked again in the future, and promises that the president of the United States will Congress will enforce those security protocols, the official said.
The United States will also continue to train Ukrainian troops, deepen defense industry production cooperation, and share more Intelligence operations would be more streamlined than they are currently. People familiar with the deal said it would try to help Ukraine build a long-term deterrent in different domains, including air, sea and cyber.
“It means a shift in the planning cycle from just fighting the current war to thinking about deterrence and defense in a broader sense,” said Eric Ciaramella, a former White House official and current fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“This is not the end of the story,” he said. “We will find ways to make these agreements stronger over time, including coordination with our allies.”
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