A column in the Ukrainian online newspaper EuropeanPravda by lawyer Mykhaylo Soldatenko examining the wording and nature of the treaty on future security commitments that Ukraine plans to sign with its allies is being touted by Kremlin propagandists as an example of the West refusing to provide Ukraine with security guarantees. Soldatenko does not write that the G7 countries refuse to provide security guarantees, he simply points out that the word “guarantees” did not appear in the G7 leaders’ declaration after the NATO summit. Ukraine is currently negotiating with the United States and Britain on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees.
Kremlin media continue to spread disinformation claiming that Western countries have allegedly refused to provide Ukraine with security guarantees.
“The leaders of the leading Western countries have never spoken about security guarantees for Ukraine and will not do so in the future,” writes the Russian newspaper Politnavigator.
Western countries’ alleged lack of support and unwillingness to help Ukraine during and after the war is one of the most widely disseminated narratives that Russian propaganda uses in its information war to demoralize Ukrainians and discredit Ukraine’s allies.
In the face of the West’s continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, such statements are pure disinformation. In response to Russia’s aggressive actions, the United States, the EU, and many other countries are providing military assistance to Ukraine, training, and humanitarian support. These countries are also clear about their commitments to continue such assistance.
As for the security guarantees that Ukraine is negotiating with its allies, talks are still ongoing, and it cannot be said that Western countries have generally refused to provide them. The EU has indeed made such a statement, but only in light of the fact that the European Union is not a security organization, and such a discussion must take place with individual countries, NATO member states.
Negotiations are underway with the United States, and according to State Department representative Matthew Miller, the US must “lock in long-term security agreements that will outlive any one administration, any one government, both here in the United States and among our allies and partners who have signed up for the same type of long-term security commitments..”
Russian propaganda manipulated and distorted a column by Ukrainian lawyer Mykhaylo Soldatenko for the online European Pravda newspaper, in which Soldatenko discusses what security commitments the US could provide to Ukraine, what wording would be more appropriate in such documents, and, most importantly, the nature of the agreement. Soldatenko writes that the G7 declaration following the Vilnius summit does not contain the word “guarantees” at all, and the document itself is at the level of a political statement. At the same time, Ukraine needs treaties in which security commitments provide for real, practical, and long-term actions by the West in the event of new possible attacks by Russia. Soldatenko did not make any claims that “the West has refused to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.”
