Zelenskyy, Biden to sign security agreement on sidelines of G7 summit amid deteriorating US-Ukraine relations
The Ukrainian president reportedly became ‘emotional and nervous’ over what he believes is the US' growing willingness to negotiate with Russia
The presidents of the United States and Ukraine will sign a bilateral security agreement on the sidelines of the G7 summit to be held in Italy next month.
This was reported by the Financial Times, citing informed sources.
Washington wants to demonstrate its support to Kyiv amid ‘tense’ relations between the two countries, which have reached the ‘lowest level’ since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the sources said.
‘We are further apart than ever since the beginning of the war. It's very, very tense,’ said one unnamed Ukrainian official.
Other officials pointed to discontent coming specifically from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has reportedly become ‘emotional and nervous’ about the situation on the battlefield and what he sees as the US's growing willingness to negotiate with Russia.
Zelenskyy ‘thinks that President Joe Biden's administration wants to end the war before the US elections,’ the official said.
Tensions escalated after reports emerged that Biden would not attend the upcoming Peace Summit in Switzerland in June.
‘I believe that the peace summit needs President Biden, and other leaders need President Biden, because they will be looking at the US reaction,’ Zelenskyy said.
‘Putin will applaud Biden's absence at the peace summit. And he will be standing,’ he added.
At the same time, US officials told the FT that Ukraine had planned the summit despite being told that Biden would not be able to attend. Instead, an unannounced senior official will attend.
According to FT sources, Kyiv's dissatisfaction with Biden's absence from the summit in Switzerland is just one of many contentious issues in US-Ukraine relations.
Other issues include the six-month delay in Congress's decision to approve military aid to Ukraine; the lack of significant progress on Ukraine's NATO membership; and the Biden administration's ban on Kyiv using US-supplied weapons to strike military targets in Russia.
The security agreement with the United States will be the most significant among the other documents that Ukraine has signed with NATO countries. The agreement will include commitments to long-term support, including military training, intelligence sharing, and economic assistance, the FT writes.
To date, Kyiv has signed such agreements with Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Latvia, the Netherlands, Finland, France, and the United States. The agreements are valid for 10 years.
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