President Biden will sign a formal security deal with Ukraine on Thursday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly will cozy up to North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un in the coming days.
The agreement, to be signed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 in Italy, will commit the US to 10 more years of training Ukraine’s military, boosting weapons-production cooperation and providing other assistance and increased intelligence sharing, US officials said.
“Our goal here is straightforward,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday. “We want to demonstrate the US supports the people of Ukraine; that we stand with them [and] will continue to address their security needs, not just now, but in the future.”
Still, Biden remains committed to his pledge of no US boots on the ground in Ukraine, as Sullivan said the deal will not involve sending American forces to the war-torn country.
“This agreement covers the kind of support that Ukraine has sought as it bravely defends its freedom,” he said. “They have asked our weapons assistance as they fight to defend their territory; they have not askd our forces to join the fight.”
The agreement will go both ways, meaning that Kyiv could also provide assistance to the US in the future.
Defense experts tell The Post that Ukraine’s military has learned valuable lessons in modern warfare that could benefit the Pentagon, which has not battled a major world power since World War II.
“Vladimir Putin thinks that he can outlast coalition support in Ukraine; he’s wrong,” Sullivan said. “He cannot wait us out and this agreement shows our resolve and continued commitment.”
Putin appears to be taking a page out of Ukraine’s book, however, by developing support from other US adversaries, including China and Iran. On Wednesday, South Korean media reported that Putin was expected to visit Pyongyang later this week.
The timing of the concerning meeting may be intended to send a message to Kyiv’s partners and allies, as nearly 100 nations will gather in Lucerne, Switzerland to discuss strategies to bring an end to the 26-month-old war.
Zelensky has spent months drumming up international support for and commitments to attend the summit – to which Russia was not invited. Some Russia-aligned countries, including China, have refused to attend without Moscow representation there.
Russia has denied having formal security agreements in place with other US adversaries, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov telling reporters Tuesday that the only thing they have in common is that they were “the targets of the United States and their allies.”
Still, US intelligence officials have caught North Korea shipping thousands of weapons to Russia throughout Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
