Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed bilateral security agreements on Friday in Berlin and then Paris establishing long-term aid from Germany and France to Ukraine. His French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who pledged to provide “up to three billion euros” in “additional” military aid to Kiev this year, vigorously denounced a “change in posture” by Russia which ” demands a collective start.”
As the war launched on February 24, 2022 by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine prepares to enter its third year, “it is a new phase which is opening”, he warned alongside by Volodymyr Zelensky. The “Kremlin regime” has “crossed several thresholds” in terms of disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, he added, referring to a “will of aggression” against “European democracies”. Moscow must also “without delay give explanations” on fears of a deployment of “nuclear weapons in space”, insisted Emmanuel Macron.
This “hardening” is recalled “in the most tragic way” by the announcement of the death in prison of Alexeï Navalny, number one opponent of Vladimir Putin, which has overshadowed the Ukrainian leader’s European tour. This death, which further exacerbates tensions with the West, “reveals the weakness of the Kremlin and the fear of all opponents”, said the French president. Earlier in Berlin, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Vladimir Putin must “be held accountable for his crimes”.
Modern army after the war
Faced with this gloomy picture, the security agreements signed by France and Germany, after that of the United Kingdom in January, must set in stone long-term civil and military support for Kiev while awaiting possible future accession to NATO. So much eagerly awaited support while the Ukrainian army is struggling against the Russians and American aid is frozen.
The Ukrainian president also estimated that this would give “an impetus to the United States”, where aid of 60 billion dollars is blocked by the Republicans in the House of Representatives. In its text concluded for “a period of ten years” and “as long as Ukraine has not joined NATO” as France hopes, the latter provides for “global assistance” and in particular a strengthening of cooperation in the field of artillery.
Olaf Scholz and Volodymyr Zelensky also signed a security agreement described as “historic” by the German Chancellor who assured his determination to support Ukraine “as long as necessary” against the Russian aggressor. “Two years after the start of this terrible war, today we are sending a very clear message to the Russian president: we will not relax our support for Ukraine,” warned the German leader.
Illustration of this commitment: the signed document contains additional and immediate military aid in the amount of 1.1 billion euros, which is a tranche of the seven billion euros already announced by Germany for 2024. France and Germany also plan to support Ukraine after the war to equip itself with a modern army capable of repelling possible future attacks from Russia.
“Our security agreement is a truly unprecedented bilateral document,” the Ukrainian president stressed in Berlin. This diplomatic escape is crucial for Volodymyr Zelensky at a time when the situation has deteriorated considerably on the Ukrainian front: the Kiev army announced during the night from Friday to Saturday that it was abandoning the town of Avdiïvka, the epicenter of “fighting”. relentless.”