President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are expected to sign a deal for long-term US military assistance to Ukraine on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit that begins in Italy on Thursday.
According to CNN, the deal will commit the US to 10 years of arming and training the Ukrainian military and helping build up the country’s military-industrial complex. The agreement is not expected to specify an amount that the US will spend on supporting Ukraine.
The deal could also be easily reversed by a future administration since it will be an “executive agreement,” not a formal military treaty, which requires the approval of the Senate. Initial reports about the plan said the idea would be to tie the hands of a future president and make it difficult for the US to stop supporting Ukraine.
The fact that the Biden administration is going for an easily reversible deal signals that the US might not expect the Ukrainian war effort to last much longer. Or, the administration doesn’t think it could get the votes it needs for a treaty, which requires two-thirds of the Senate to approve.
Ukraine has signed 14 similar bilateral deals with other NATO countries, but these are largely symbolic since they don’t go beyond the support NATO has been providing since the Russian invasion.
The US deal is expected to include a promise that it will hold consultations with Ukraine in the event of a future Russian attack, but it does not include a mutual defense commitment. President Biden also recently said he didn’t think Ukraine needed to join NATO, although the alliance continues to dangle membership in front of Kyiv.
Source: AntiWar.
