President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the approval by the G7 countries of the Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine will be the first decision that will put in writing the security guarantees for our country on the path to NATO integration.
“If today the G7 agrees on the first major declaration on security guarantees, it will be a concrete fact, because it says that these guarantees are valid on the way to NATO. And this is extremely important. It will be a very concrete signal,” the Head of State said at the press conference following the meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius.
He noted that these security guarantees will be the first legal formalization of the assistance that Ukraine has received since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion and will continue to receive from its partners.
“It is very important that this may become the first legal document that symbolizes that we have such an “umbrella” of security guarantees. And then Ukraine will have documents on real relations with each security guarantor state, and there will be all the things that we have or lack today: air defense, aviation, etc. It will definitely be at the bilateral level,” the President stated.
He also noted that this document is open, and other non-G7 countries can join the provision of security guarantees for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy added that the new document should be in effect until our country becomes a full member of the North Atlantic Alliance, which will be the best guarantee of security for Ukraine and Ukrainians.
The Head of State particularly thanked U.S. President Joseph Biden for the decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions.
“I want us to look at it like this: it’s about justice. Russia is constantly using cluster munitions on our territory, fighting exclusively on our land, killing our people, using cluster munitions for many years. The assistance that we can receive from the United States regarding cluster munitions is exclusively for military purposes, exclusively for use on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He emphasized that the use of this ammunition is absolutely controlled and will not be used on the territory of other states.
The President also emphasized that Ukraine still needs long-range weapons.
“This deficit has not disappeared, and I will raise this issue,” the Head of State noted.