G7 to announce long-term Ukraine

security package at Nato summit

By James Landale & Oliver Slow

BBC News, Vilnius and London

G7 members are expected to ratify a wide-ranging security pact with Ukraine at the Nato summit
on Wednesday.

But they stopped short of providing a timeframe for Kyiv to join the security alliance, provoking the
anger of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The security arrangement will include defence equipment, training and intelligence sharing.

And UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it would send a "strong signal" to Russian President
Vladimir Putin.

The security arrangement with Ukraine comes after its President Volodymyr Zelensky raged against
Nato's reluctance to offer Kyiv a timeframe for joining the alliance.

G7 leaders will sign the declaration in Vilnius on Wednesday on the side-lines of the second day of
a Nato defence summit.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with President Zelensky on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said Kyiv's allies
were ramping up their "formal arrangements to protect Ukraine for the long term".

"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 said.
British officials said the UK had played a leading role in the agreement involving G7 partners
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US. More details are expected on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden earlier suggested a model for Ukraine similar to his country's agreement
with Israel. Under that deal, Washington has committed to providing $3.8bn (£2.9bn) in military
aid per year over a decade.

But unlike Nato membership - this does not include a clause to come to the target nation's aid
during a time of attack.

The G7 announcement comes after Nato said Ukraine could join the military alliance "when allies
agree and conditions are met" - a delay Mr Zelensky has called "absurd".

Kyiv accepts it cannot join Nato while it is at war with Russia but wants to join as soon as possible
after fighting ends.

Addressing crowds in the Lithuanian capital on Tuesday, Mr Zelensky said: "Nato will give Ukraine
security - Ukraine will make the alliance stronger."

He also presented a battle flag from the destroyed city of Bakhmut - the site of the longest, and
possibly bloodiest, battle in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky had earlier tweeted that "uncertainty is weakness", and said the lack of an agreed
timeframe meant his country's eventual membership could become a bargaining chip.

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Nato might not have said when and how Ukraine might join the alliance, but diplomats
emphasised that they had set out a clear path to membership, with the onerous application
process shortened significantly.
They said they had recognised that Ukraine's army was increasingly "interoperable" and more
"politically integrated" with Nato forces, and promised continue supporting reforms to Ukraine's
democracy and security sector.

Diplomats also highlighted the creation of a new Nato-Ukraine Council, meeting on Wednesday for
the first time, which will give Kyiv the right to summon meetings of the whole alliance.

Some member states fear near-automatic membership for Ukraine could give Russia an incentive
to both escalate and prolong the war.

In the past, Western security pledges failed to deter two Russian invasions. Nato allies hope a third
round will be robust and explicit enough to persuade the Kremlin that further aggression would be
too costly.

Participants of the Nato summitImage source, Reuters

Image caption,

The two-day Nato summit is taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania

A series of military packages for Ukraine were also announced at the summit on Tuesday.

A coalition of 11 nations will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly US-made F-16 fighter jets at a
centre to be set up in Romania in August, officials said.

In May the US gave the go-ahead for its Western allies to supply Ukraine with advanced jets,
including the long sought F-16s - a significant upgrade on the Soviet-era planes it is currently using.

Ukraine had repeatedly lobbied its Western allies to provide jets to help with its recently-begun
counter-offensive aiming to retake territory seized by Russia.

However experts say the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly and operate Western jets will take some
time.

In addition to the G7 security pact, the UK has announced plans to deliver more than 70 combat
and logistics vehicles to Ukraine, aimed at boosting its counteroffensive operation.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66172421