US and Ukraine have started work on security agreement, Zelensky says
Kyiv, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said that Kyiv and Washington had started talks on a bilateral security cooperation deal and finalized plans to send more long-range missiles to Ukraine's armed forces.
Kyiv has signed several 10-year security agreements with NATO countries that outline long-term Western support for Ukraine in the face of a Russian invasion now in its third year.
"Our teams – Ukraine and the United States – have started working on a bilateral security agreement," Zelensky said in his evening address on social media, adding that it could be a "truly exemplary" deal.
The agreements signed so far – including with Britain, France, and Germany – are not mutual defense pacts but have symbolic importance as a show of commitment by the West to support Kyiv militarily, politically, and financially for years to come.
Zelensky held a telephone call with US President Joe Biden earlier on Monday after the US Congress finally advanced a long-stalled package of military aid for Kyiv over the weekend.
The Ukrainian leader said after the call that "all the dots have been dotted in the agreements on ATACMS [Army Tactical Missile Systems] for Ukraine."
Cover photo: Chip Somodevilla / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP