On Wednesday, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) signed a declaration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, committing to ensuring Ukraine's long-term security and coordinating with Kyiv in the event of any future Russian attack to determine "appropriate steps."
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The text of the declaration was made public after the signing event, which took place on the sidelines of the Vilnius summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the declaration alongside Zelensky, other G7 leaders, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Charles Michel.
"The G7 will continue to support Ukraine. Our solidarity will never waver," Kishida promised, referring to the declaration, which other countries outside the G7 can also join. One of these nations could be Spain, which has already announced its intention to join the commitment.
In practice, the declaration serves to initiate a series of bilateral negotiations to increase military cooperation between Ukraine and G7 members, namely the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada.
During the event, Zelensky assured that the G7 declaration provides "security guarantees" to Ukraine, although the text only mentions "security commitments" in various areas.
Specifically, G7 assistance will take various forms, including the provision of arms and training for the Ukrainian armed forces, collaboration in cybersecurity, increased intelligence information sharing, and measures to boost arms production in Ukraine.
According to the declaration, in the event of a future armed attack by Russia, G7 countries intend to hold necessary consultations with Ukraine "immediately" to determine "appropriate steps."
In general terms, the objective of the declaration is to prevent future attacks and offer some security to Ukraine until it can complete its process of NATO accession, which will only be possible once the war with Russia ends.
"These guarantees will allow Ukraine to build an army that can defend itself and prevent future attacks," Amanda Sloat, director for Europe at the U.S. National Security Council, said, as reported by Nexta TV.
However, due to these commitments, the Kremlin announced that the G7 declaration providing security guarantees to Ukraine "threatens" Russia's security.