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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday made a whirlwind trip to Berlin and Paris to shore up European support at a critical moment in the fight against Russia, when U.S. support is wavering and Ukraine desperately needs more weapons. ing.
Mr. Zelenskiy, who arrived in Berlin on Friday morning, signed a security agreement with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledging to “strive for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” The Ukrainian leader is expected to sign a similar agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris later on Friday, before attending the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
“This is a historic step,” Scholz said in his paper. social media posts It included a photo of him and Zelenskiy holding the agreement after it was signed. .
European leaders are scrambling to provide more aid to Ukraine amid growing concerns that a $60 billion U.S. aid package passed by the Senate could be rejected by House Republicans.
The security agreement is one of a series of commitments that all G7 members and several other countries made to Ukraine at a meeting of NATO allies in Vilnius, Lithuania last year, and the move This is seen as an attempt to compensate for the country’s reluctance to conclude an agreement. Kiev soon joined the alliance.
The agreement provides Ukraine with sufficient security support to deter further Russian aggression, including major weapons deliveries, military training, and intelligence sharing, and also strengthens Ukraine’s financial stability and・Aims to support implementation of economic review.
Speaking after the sing-along in Berlin, Zelenskiy said he “trusts that America will not fall apart” and has received assurances of continued support from leaders of both U.S. political parties.
“Regardless of what’s at stake in politics right now, whether it’s in the House of Representatives or Congress as a whole or in the election process,” he said. We keep the world safe. ”
Security experts say Ukraine is in dire need of ammunition, especially artillery shells, ahead of what could be a crucial year in the fight against Russia. Thomas Kleinebrockhoff, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, said Ukraine needed an “ammunition bailout”.
“Mr Zelenskiy knows that his most important allies at the moment are Mr Scholz and Mr Macron, but they both need to take the next step,” Kleinebrokhof said. “European countries are at a crossroads. Will they be able to take a step forward if the US falls by the wayside as financial support?”
Prime Minister Scholz has made his thoughts clear. He stresses that it may be impossible to sustain military operations in Ukraine without US support, even as Europe intensifies its efforts.
“The United States is a great power and its support is essential to Ukraine’s security and ability to defend itself,” he told reporters after Friday’s signing. “And this is my appeal to the leaders of the United States Congress, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, to make this decision. This is up to America.”
Since October, European Union countries and institutions have allocated nearly $5 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, more than three times as much as the United States in the same period, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. . Since August, the total amount of aid allocated by the bloc has exceeded that of the United States.
This month, European Union leaders pledged 50 billion euros (about $54 billion) in new aid to Ukraine.
To fully replace American military aid this year, Europe still needs to “double the current level and pace of arms aid,” according to the Kiel Institute’s assessment.
Germany, once widely criticized for being slow to provide military aid to Ukraine, is now second only to the United States in terms of supplies. Berlin announced in November that it would double aid to $8.5 billion in 2024.
The prime minister is now calling on other European countries to share the burden and provide more weapons, saying they cannot provide more.
Small countries such as Estonia and Latvia, both feeling threatened by neighboring Russia, followed suit last month by announcing new military aid packages including drones and artillery. However, there remains a wide gap between Europe’s aid promises and actual aid.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began nearly two years ago, European Union countries and institutions have pledged more than $150 billion in aid, but only half that amount has been allocated, according to the Kiel Institute. I stayed. In contrast, the United States has allocated more than 90 percent of the $73 billion in aid it has pledged.
Last month, the UK, which is not a member of the bloc, became the first G7 country to sign one of the security agreements it committed to with Ukraine. This includes cooperation not only in cybersecurity and maritime security, but also in the defense industry, so that in the event of a future Russian invasion, both countries would be able to “determine the measures necessary to counter or deter aggression.” We will discuss this within 24 hours.”
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said the security agreement promised by G7 countries was the best the country had achieved since independence in 1991. But he pointed out that the deal does not oblige allies to fight for Ukraine, but instead. Pledge to help Ukraine only if it is invaded in the future.
Klimkin said that through these agreements, Ukraine’s allies are “giving what they can when they can, which is fundamentally different from giving what they need when they need it.”
“All of these agreements will be realized based on political decisions,” he added. “That’s a big assumption.”
France, which has been criticized for giving too little financial and military aid to Ukraine, has sought in recent weeks to emphasize its continued support for Kiev. Last month, Mr Macron said he would send 40 long-range Scalp missiles and “hundreds of bombs” to Ukraine, which proved essential for striking deep behind enemy lines.
To meet Ukraine’s demands, France has also cut production time for Caesar self-propelled howitzers by half and plans to produce 78 similar guns this year. France has announced that it will donate 12 of them to Ukraine, but Kiev has already purchased six with its own funds. French authorities hope that other Western allies will help pay for the remaining costs.
“Let us resist the temptation of fatigue and apathy,” French Foreign Minister Stephane Séjournet said in an op-ed in the French daily Le Monde on Friday. “Let us choose to resist this particular temptation. Today’s efforts on behalf of Ukraine are nothing compared to what we have to deploy against Russia, which is feeling a victory. ”
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