War in Ukraine: kyiv has just found a major ally for the next 100 years

En signant un accord historique avec Londres ce 16 janvier 2024, Kiev s'assure d'avoir un allié solide pour les 100 prochaines années.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a 100-year partnership agreement on Thursday, including on security, just days before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Ensuring Ukraine's security

“We will work with you and all our allies on measures that are strong enough to ensure Ukraine's security,” Keir Starmer said at a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky. “We will play our part fully” in the perspective of a possible peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, which the American president-elect Donald Trump claims he can obtain in the coming months.

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Keir Starmer's visit to kyiv comes two days after that of German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, at a time when European leaders are considering what security guarantees they could provide to Ukraine after the war ends. . Volodymyr Zelensky said during the press conference that he had discussed the issue of the deployment of foreign troops with, in addition to Keir Starmer, the leaders of France, Poland and the Baltic States.

Donald Trump's return to the White House has raised fears that the United States will seek to force Ukraine to comply with most of the conditions set by Moscow to end the war, namely the renunciation by kyiv of the territories occupied by Russian forces in the east of the country, or even any future membership in NATO.

Volodymyr Zelensky hailed a “historic day” after signing with Keir Starmer, whose visit was first to Ukraine since he became Prime Minister last July, the partnership “for the next hundred years” between the two countries.

Continue the fight

The treaty, which will be submitted to the British Parliament in the coming weeks, aims to strengthen security and military cooperation between London and kyiv, including to ensure security in the Baltic and Black Seas, in order to deter Russian aggression. The text also covers areas such as energy, critical minerals and the production of “green” steel, said on 10, Downing Street.

“Mr (Vladimir) Putin's ambition to alienate Ukraine from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Keir Starmer had said in a statement released before his trip to kyiv. However, the British Prime Minister recalled during the press conference that before looking ahead to the post-war period, kyiv's allies must “ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position” to continue the fight against Russia in 2025. “The conflict is far from over. We must not relax our efforts,” he insisted.

Great Britain has been one of Ukraine's main supporters, providing £12.8 billion (around €16 billion) in military and civilian aid since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.

This sum remains However, this is far from the $63.5 billion in security aid that Washington has released since Russia's invasion, which underlines the importance of the measures that Donald Trump will take with regard to Ukraine.