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2.0 Politics
2.1 Critics decry Ukraine’s “toothless” security agreement with UK
The recent signing of a bilateral security agreement between Kyiv and London by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stirred mixed sentiments within Ukraine.
The 16-page document outlines a decade-long collaboration on various fronts, including military strengthening, defence industry, infrastructure, maritime borders, and cybersecurity, contingent on Ukraine not joining Nato within that timeframe.
This agreement, the first in a series of pledges made by G7 states during a July Nato summit, has faced criticism from lawmakers, diplomats, and experts who view it as lacking substantial security guarantees for Ukraine. Some have drawn parallels to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, where Ukraine relinquished its Soviet nuclear arsenal in exchange for assurances that were never realized, with the UK being one of the signatories alongside the US and Russia.
Lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko from the opposition party European Solidarity expressed scepticism, stating, “Security assurances are important, but this is an exact reproduction of the vocabulary and essence of the Budapest Memorandum. The UK is now providing us with powerful military and financial aid, but they will not fight for Ukraine,” Kyiv Independent reports.
Crucially, the agreement has not been ratified by the parliaments of either country, prompting former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to emphasize its status as a political statement of intent. Klimkin acknowledged that the agreement, despite its potential dependence on future political decisions, remains "the most comprehensive security agreement we have ever had with a Western country."
London's commitment to providing £2.5bn ($3.2bn ) in military aid in 2024 and supporting Ukraine's Nato aspirations has been highlighted as a crucial aspect by former deputy foreign minister Danylo Lubkivskyi. He deemed the agreement a "very important political and legal instrument" that supplements the broader system in place to protect Ukraine's sovereignty.
The debate surrounding the agreement's efficacy underscores the complex dynamics surrounding Ukraine's security landscape and the delicate balance between political intent and concrete security assurances.
2.2 Ukraine kicks of process of aligning its legislation with that of EU
The European Commission (EC) has initiated the process of assessing Ukrainian legislative reforms to align them with EU laws, which marks the start of Ukraine’s formal membership negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on January 25th.
7 UKRAINE Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com