Kiev has sealed similar pacts with several NATO countries, formalizing their commitment of support
Ukraine has entered into a security agreement with the European Union, and has signed similar agreements with Lithuania and Estonia. According to a draft seen by Reuters, the EU will continue to provide military support to Ukraine under the agreement.
Since 2023, Ukraine has secured such pacts with several individual NATO member states, including the UK, France, and Germany. However, none of these documents explicitly pledge direct future involvement on the part of the signatories in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
During a meeting of EU member state leaders at the Council of Europe on Thursday, Vladimir Zelensky stated: “Today, [European Council President] Charles Michel, [European Commission President] Ursula Von der Leyen and I, we signed it – the joint security commitment with the EU.”
He added that “together with President [Gitanas] Nauseda, I signed the security agreement between Ukraine and Lithuania, and together with Prime Minister [Kaja] Kallas, the security agreement between Ukraine and Estonia. And I invite everyone in Europe who is still on the sidelines of the security work to join us.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) prior to the meeting, Zelensky wrote that the security “agreement will enshrine the commitment of all 27 Member States to provide Ukraine with extensive support, regardless of any internal institutional changes.”
While the text of the EU-Ukraine pact has not been publicly released at the time of this writing, Reuters reported on Wednesday that the agreement would obligate the bloc to provide assistance to Kiev in nine areas of security and defense policy, including weapons deliveries and training of the Ukrainian military. The EU also reportedly pledges to hold consultations with Ukraine within 24 hours in the event of “future aggression.”
The US and Ukraine signed a 10-year security agreement earlier this month, under which Washington has vowed to “support Ukraine’s efforts to win today’s war and deter future Russian military aggression.”
Zelensky hailed the pact as elevating US-Ukrainian relations “to the level of a true alliance.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly warned that, while unable to change the course of the conflict, continued Western arms deliveries to Ukraine could potentially trigger a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that by providing any security guarantees to Kiev, the West is making Europe less secure.