G7: Biden and Zelenskyy Ink 10-Year Security Agreement

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Facts

• Coming on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy, US Pres. Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he had inked a 10-year bilateral security agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.¹
• 'We’re not backing down,' Biden said at a joint news conference with Zelenskyy. The agreement included approval of a $50B loan to Ukraine, repayment of which will come from interest on frozen Russian assets.¹
• The agreement, with its 10-year term, is a move that also seeks to bind the hands of the coming US administration — with reports including CNN suggesting it was a way of 'Trump-proofing' US military support for Ukraine in the coming years. However, as CNN noted, 'No US president can truly bind his successor to a course of action.'²
• Nonetheless, at the press conference, Zelenskyy asserted it was legally binding, adding it was the 'strongest agreement' struck since Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. 'Today is a truly historic day,' he said, adding it included US-Ukraine cooperation on intelligence, as well as the strengthening of Ukraine's military-industrial base.³
• Meanwhile, in a closed-door Republican meeting on Thursday, and what was Trump's first return to Capitol Hill since the 2021 events of Jan. 6, Trump is said to have questioned the benefit of Ukraine defeating Russia in the war, according to an account by Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.)⁴
• According to Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, Trump repeated a previous claim in stating that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would not have started under his watch. Trump further alleged Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin is 'more afraid of him than Biden,' said McCaul.⁵

Sources: ¹NBC, ²CNN, ³Guardian, ⁴Metro and ⁵Daily Mail.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Guardian. This historic agreement reached by Biden and Zelenskyy shows that democracies can deliver. It further demonstrates to Putin that the West's support of Ukraine remains unwavering
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by New York Times. This latest agreement is merely a symbolic move that lacks any longevity, as there's no guarantee that it will survive the American election, or substance, as it doesn't contain any real funding. This is merely an illusion of support.

Predictions