G7 countries sign declaration outlining long-term security guarantees for Ukraine

The Group of Seven wealthy nations on Wednesday revealed a long-term security framework for Ukraine, saying it will seek to implement a reform agenda to help provide Kyiv with “the good governance necessary to advance towards its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”

“We consider Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine to be a threat to international peace and security, a flagrant violation of international law, including the UN Charter, and incompatible with our security interests,” the G7 said in a joint declaration of support.

“We will stand with Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression, for as long as it takes.”

Outlining how the G7 will support Ukraine over the long term, the joint statement said the countries will ensure “a sustainable force capable of defending Ukraine now and deterring Russian aggression in the future” by providing modern military equipment across land, air and sea, training for Ukrainian forces, and intelligence sharing.

The G7 said it would also seek to bolster Ukraine’s economic stability, including through recovery efforts, “to create the conditions conducive to promoting Ukraine’s economic prosperity.”

The countries vowed to provide technical and financial support for Ukraine’s immediate needs as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The declaration said it recognized “the need for the establishment of an international mechanism for reparation of damages, loss or injury caused by Russian aggression.”

In return for its support, the G7 statement said Ukraine would be committed to continuing with the implementation of reforms, including areas such as law enforcement, anti-corruption and corporate governance.

Moscow sharply criticized the G7’s security pledges to Ukraine.

G7 intentions to supply security guarantees to Ukraine are “erroneous and dangerous” as they breach the safety of Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday in Google-translated comments collected by Russian state news agency Tass.

Earlier in the day, bloc member London said the G7 was expected on Wednesday to agree to a “significant international framework for Ukraine’s long-term security,” which would “set out how allies will support Ukraine over the coming years to end the war and deter and respond to any future attack.”

“Supporting their progress on the pathway to NATO membership, coupled with formal, multilateral, and bilateral agreements and the overwhelming support of NATO members will send a strong signal to President Putin and return peace to Europe,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

“We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met,” the communique said, stressing NATO members formalized a “substantial package of expanded political and practical support” and decided to create the NATO-Ukraine Council, where Kyiv and its allies will have equal standing in decision-making and consultations.

The communique supplied little indication on Kyiv’s progress toward accession, echoing the 2008 statement of the Bucharest NATO summit, during which allies agreed that Ukraine and Georgia would become members.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had lashed out against the “unprecedented and absurd” lack of a timeline for Ukraine’s membership bid, saying in Google-translated comments on Telegram that “uncertainty is weakness” and “for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror.”

He struck a more conciliatory note in a joint news conference with Stoltenberg on Wednesday, saying that “Ukraine understands it cannot be a member of NATO as long as the war continues” and that “nobody is willing to have a world war, which is logical and understandable.”

Failing a NATO membership, Zelenskyy praised the prospect of a security framework.

“The best news for Ukraine is to be in NATO. On our way to NATO, we would like to have the security guarantees,” he said.

“If today G7 will agree to the first declaration of guarantees, that will be a very specific matter,” he added. “This is very important, this is going to be a very specific signal [to Russia].”