United States and NATO leaders are looking to create an Israeli-like security agreement with Ukraine as its war with Russia rages on.
While NATO membership is likely far in the future for Ukraine, a security agreement would allow Western allies to "give priority to arms transfers and advanced technology" to the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. Similar to Israel's special relationship with the United States, Ukraine's security agreement would allow Western allies to continue to give foreign assistance to the embattled country but would not make NATO party to any conflicts with Russia, Western officials told the Journal.
President Joe Biden discussed the Israeli-model concept with Polish president Andrzej Duda during a visit to Poland in February, according to Duda, who spoke with the Journal. It is now on the agenda for the NATO summit in July in Vilnius, Lithuania, and expected to be signed after the summit. The security agreement is intended to discourage Russian president Vladimir Putin from dragging out the war in hopes of weakening Ukraine's support from the West.
"Russia needs to understand today that Ukraine has got those security guarantees and that they’re not going to lapse with time or with fatigue of the West," said Duda, who clarified that the proposal will not include any connections to any peace process or negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.
Biden told leaders at the G7 summit Friday he supports training Ukrainian pilots to fly Western jet fighters, including American F-16s. The United Kingdom recently pledged to give Ukraine hundreds of long-range attack drones, among other weapons. Germany has agreed to give $3 billion in military aid, and France will deliver more armored vehicles and light tanks, the Journal reported.
"Ukraine needs ironclad and lasting security guarantees," Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, said.