Ukraine, EU sign security pacts in Brussels

The European Union and two of its member countries, Lithuania and Estonia, signed security agreements with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

The agreement with the EU lays out the bloc’s commitment to help Ukraine in nine areas of security and defence policy – including arms deliveries, military training, defence industry cooperation and demining, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

The pact – along with the documents signed with Lithuania and Estonia – is intended to complement other similar agreements sealed between Ukraine and its allies as it continues its defence against Russia’s invasion.

Zelenskyy thanked countries that have promised equipment, weapons and ammunition, but underlined that “we need them urgently on the battlefield.”

Countries including the United States, Britain, France and Germany have sealed such pacts with Kyiv.

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Russian forces are seeking to press their advantage in troop numbers and weaponry before Ukraine’s armed forces are bulked up by promised new Western military aid, some of which is trickling to the front line, analysts say.

The EU launched membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday, a decade after Russian troops seized the Crimean Peninsula to deter the country from moving closer to the West, part of a chain of events that set the two neighbors on the path to war.

“We waited for this, a long period of time,” Zelenskyy said, thanking the EU for its approval.

The leaders are expected to sign a document of security commitments to Ukraine, which in essence encapsulates what the 27-nation bloc has been doing for the country in terms of financial, military and other assistance since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.

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Several countries already have similar agreements with Ukraine, offering a long-term commitment to help Kyiv, including once its war with Russia is over. Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden signed one such pact earlier this month which will run for the next decade.

With inputs from agencies.