Ukraine’s Zelenskyy signs security agreements with Germany, France

BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bilateral security agreement with Germany and planned to sign another with France on Feb. 16, securing a strong signal of long-term backing as Kyiv works to shore up Western support nearly two years after Russia launched its full-scale war.

Zelenskyy met in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz , who said Berlin was providing another 1.1 billion-euro ($1.2 billion) package of military aid, including 36 howitzers, 120,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and two more air-defense systems.

Scholz described the long-term security accord as a “historic step.” It’s Ukraine’s second such bilateral agreement after one signed last month with the U.K.

Zelenskyy plans to sign another one with President Emmanuel Macron in France later Friday. He said more were in the works with other countries. “Ukraine has never yet had more valuable and stronger documents,” the president said.

The security agreements appear aimed primarily at sending a message of long-term solidarity as Ukraine has gone back on the defensive in the war, hindered by low ammunition supplies and a shortage of personnel.

“Two years after the beginning of this terrible war, we are sending a crystal-clear message today to the Russian president: we will not ease off in our support for Ukraine,” Scholz said. He put his country’s deliveries and pledges of military aid so far at a total 28 billion euros.

The German agreement, which is valid for 10 years, underscores Germany’s “intention to provide long-term military support to the Ukrainian security and defense forces.” It says Germany and Ukraine “will work together on ensuring a sustainable force capable of defending Ukraine now and deterring future aggression in the future.”

In case of future Russian aggression, Germany “would provide Ukraine as appropriate, with swift and sustained security assistance” and modern military equipment as needed, as well as seeking agreement on imposing “economic and other costs on Russia,” the accord states. It goes on state that Ukraine “will continue to implement an ambitious reform program,” which is essential to its ambitions to join the European Union and NATO.

The agreement follow commitments by the Group of Seven most advanced economies, which include Germany, France and the U.K., at a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July. The Group of Seven vowed at the time to provide weapons and military equipment, including combat air power, as well as more military training for Ukraine’s beleaguered army.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy is set to attend the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of high-ranking security and foreign policy officials, where he plans meetings with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, among others.

European allies are appealing to the U.S. Congress in recent days to approve a package that includes aid for Ukraine, a $60 billion allotment that would go largely to U.S. defense entities to manufacture missiles, munitions and other military hardware that are being sent to the battlefields in Ukraine. The package faces resistance from House Republicans.

Scholz traveled to Washington a week ago to underscore the urgency of releasing U.S. funding. After meeting Zelenskyy, he renewed his appeal for Congress to release the aid.

“The U.S. is a great power, and its support is essential to the security of Ukraine and its ability to depend itself,” the German leader said. “We are making our contribution, too, but that of the U.S. should not be underestimated.”

Zelenskyy said he thinks the majority of the American population supports his country’s cause. “I expect that the United States will not ‘drop out,’” he said. “I expect that in all of this a pragmatic American approach to us, protecting the security of the world, will be found.”

Germany is now the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the U.S., and Scholz has called recently for other European countries to step up with more weapons deliveries.

Zelenskyy made one previous visit to Berlin since the Russian invasion in February 2022, in May last year. Friday’s trip will be his third to Paris since the invasion, following visits in February and May 2023.

Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

柏林（美联社）——乌克兰总统泽连斯基与德国签署了一项双边安全协议，并计划于2月16日与法国签署另一项协议，这为基辅在俄罗斯发动全面战争近两年后巩固西方支持发出了长期支持的强烈信号。

泽连斯基在柏林会见了德国总理奥拉夫·朔尔茨，朔尔茨表示，柏林将提供另一笔价值 11 亿欧元（12 亿美元）的军事援助，其中包括 36 门榴弹炮、12 万发炮弹和两套防空系统。

舒尔茨称这项长期安全协议是“历史性的一步”。这是乌克兰继上个月与英国签署协议后，签署的第二份此类双边协议。

泽连斯基计划于周五晚些时候在法国与总统马克龙签署另一项协议。他表示，乌克兰正在与其他国家商讨更多协议。“乌克兰从未拥有过如此有价值、如此强有力的文件，”总统说道。

这些安全协议似乎主要旨在传递长期团结的信息，因为乌克兰在战争中重新转入守势，受到弹药供应不足和人员短缺的阻碍。

“在这场可怕的战争爆发两年后，我们今天向俄罗斯总统发出一个明确的信息：我们不会放松对乌克兰的支持，”朔尔茨说道。他表示，迄今为止，俄罗斯已向乌克兰提供或承诺提供总计280亿欧元的军事援助。

这份有效期为10年的德国协议强调了德国“向乌克兰安全和国防部队提供长期军事支持的意图”。协议指出，德国和乌克兰“将共同努力，确保乌克兰拥有一支可持续的军事力量，既能保卫乌克兰现在的安全，又能遏制未来的侵略”。

该协议指出，若俄罗斯未来发动侵略，德国将“酌情向乌克兰提供迅速且持续的安全援助”，并根据需要提供现代化军事装备，同时寻求就“对俄罗斯施加经济和其他方面的代价”达成协议。协议还指出，乌克兰“将继续实施一项雄心勃勃的改革计划”，这对乌克兰加入欧盟和北约至关重要。

该协议是在七国集团（包括德国、法国和英国）于7月在立陶宛维尔纽斯举行的北约峰会上做出承诺之后达成的。七国集团当时承诺向乌克兰陷入困境的军队提供武器和军事装备，包括作战空中力量，以及更多的军事训练。

周六，泽连斯基将出席慕尼黑安全会议，这是高级安全和外交政策官员的年度聚会，他计划在会上与美国副总统卡马拉·哈里斯等人会面。

近日，欧洲盟友呼吁美国国会批准一项援助乌克兰的方案，其中包括600亿美元的援助款项。这笔款项将主要用于美国国防机构生产导弹、弹药和其他军事装备，这些装备将被运往乌克兰战场。该方案遭到众议院共和党人的反对。

一周前，舒尔茨前往华盛顿，强调美国尽快发放援助资金的紧迫性。在与泽连斯基会面后，他再次呼吁国会发放援助款项。

“美国是一个大国，它的支持对乌克兰的安全和自力更生至关重要，”这位德国领导人说。“我们也在做出贡献，但美国的贡献不容低估。”

泽连斯基表示，他认为大多数美国民众支持美国的事业。“我预计美国不会‘退出’，”他说，“我预计在这一切之中，美国会采取务实的态度来对待我们，维护世界安全。”

德国现在是继美国之后对乌克兰提供军事援助的第二大来源国，而朔尔茨最近呼吁其他欧洲国家加大武器供应力度。

自2022年2月俄罗斯入侵柏林以来，泽连斯基此前曾于去年5月访问过柏林。周五的行程将是他自入侵以来第三次访问巴黎，此前他分别于2023年2月和5月访问过巴黎。

美联社驻巴黎记者西尔维·科尔贝对本报道亦有贡献。