Italy, Canada sign bilateral security agreements with Ukraine

Leaders from Canada and Italy signed security agreements with Ukraine on Saturday (24 February) after talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Kyiv marked the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The UK, France, Germany and Denmark already signed similar deals as part of a wider Western effort to help the country combat Russia’s aggression.

The long-term security deals with Kyiv are intended to shore up Ukraine’s military capacities until it can reach its aim of becoming a member of the Western military alliance, NATO.

“We continue to support Ukraine in what I have always believed is its people’s just right to defend themselves,” Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters in Kyiv.

“This also necessarily means military support, because to confuse the much bandied-about word ‘peace’ with ‘surrender’, as some do, is a hypocritical approach that we will never share,” she said.

Meloni confirmed the bilateral security guarantee signed between Italy and Ukraine “will last 10 years and is the most complete and important one signed with a non-NATO country”.

Meloni gave no financial details about the Italian deal.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa’s support for Kyiv remained “unwavering” two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

“Today, standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies and partners, Canada committed to further assistance, including military and humanitarian support, for Ukraine,” he said.

Trudeau’s office said Canada would provide more than 3 billion Canadian dollars in macro-financial and defence aid to Ukraine in 2024.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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