EU summit to offer ‘security commitments’ to Ukraine

The EU is preparing to offer “future security commitments” to Ukraine as the bloc’s leaders seek to agree long-term pledges for Kyiv against the backdrop of rising instability in Russia and entrenched battle lines in the war, Report informs via the Financial Times.

Discussions over the pledge, which is included in the draft conclusions of Thursday’s summit of EU leaders, come as the modest progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive and the fallout from Wagner’s failed mutiny in Russia prompt capitals to rethink what support levels Kyiv requires.

EU members France and Germany, alongside the UK and US, have led efforts to agree bilateral security arrangements to provide Ukraine with long-term financing, military supplies, training and intelligence aimed at helping it repel Russia’s full-scale invasion and protect it from future aggression.

While falling well short of the mutual defence that would come with NATO membership, the pledges are designed to provide some form of stop-gap to reassure Kyiv and give it confidence in enduring western support.

The proposed EU declaration, devised by France, is aimed at sending “a very clear political signal” to Ukraine and Russia, according to one diplomat involved in the discussions. It is also seen as ensuring the bloc has a stake in the broader security framework being devised to protect Ukraine and is not sidelined by US-led NATO, according to a second official.

But it has met resistance from Ireland, Malta and Austria, the bloc’s neutral states, according to officials briefed on the discussions, who want clarity on what the “commitments” would entail.

The draft leaders’ statement seen by the Financial Times states the EU and its member states “stand ready to contribute, together with partners, to future security commitments to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine defend itself in the long term, deter acts of aggression and resist destabilisation efforts”.

It adds that work will being to “swiftly consider the modalities of such contribution”, while taking account of the “securing and defence policy of certain member states”, a reference to neutral countries. The text could be changed before its adoption.

Some member states said the idea of “commitments” was very loosely defined and requested a more formal outline from the EU’s foreign policy arm.