Biden, Zelenskyy sign new 10-year security agreement

President Joe Biden touted on Thursday several new major U.S. commitments for Ukraine that were announced this week, including a 10-year bilateral security agreement, sanctions to disrupt Russia’s war machine, and a sign-off from the G7 on a $50 billion loan backed by frozen Russian assets.
Biden, in during a press conference in Italy with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the collective efforts by the G7 show that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot wait us out, he cannot divide us, and we’ll be with Ukraine until they prevail this war.”
On the bilateral agreement, Biden said the goal is to “strengthen Ukraine’s credible defense and deterrence capabilities for the long term.”
He reiterated his position that American troops will not fight in Ukraine, but the United States would provide them with weapons.
Zelenskyy called it a “historic day” after signing the “strongest agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. since our independence.”
“This is an agreement on security and thus on the protection of human life. This is an agreement on cooperation, and thus on how our nations will become stronger. This is an agreement on steps to guarantee sustainable peace. And therefore, it benefits everyone in the world because the Russian war against Ukraine is a real, real global threat,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy was asked what his contingency plan is if the next U.S. president does not follow through with this agreement, but he suggested that as long as Americans support Ukraine, so will the American president.
“If the people are with us, any leader will be with us in this struggle for freedom,” he said.