On Friday, on the eve of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Denmark became the latest NATO member state to sign a 10-year cooperation agreement with Kyiv, Reuters reports.

Italy and the Netherlands have said they plan to sign soon.

What are these security agreements?

The Big Seven wealthy countries signed a joint statement at the NATO summit in Vilnius last July, pledging to establish “long-term security commitments and agreements” with Ukraine, which will be discussed on a bilateral basis.

The agreements promise:

• continued provision of military and security assistance,
• promoting the development of the defense and industrial base of Ukraine,
• training of the Ukrainian military,
• information exchange and information cooperation
• cyber defense support.

The parties will also immediately consult with Kyiv to determine “appropriate next steps” in the event of a “future Russian armed attack.”

Since then, more than 30 countries have signed the declaration.

Replacing NATO?

Kyiv says the agreements should contain important and specific security commitments, but the agreements will in no way replace its strategic goal of joining NATO. The Western Alliance considers any attack on one of the 31 members of the Alliance to be an attack on all of them under Article 5.

“There was an assumption that if we concluded enough such agreements, then we would no longer need membership. Fake. We need NATO membership,” said Ihor Yovkva, advisor to the President of Ukraine on foreign affairs.

Who has already signed the agreements?

Germany and France signed agreements on security commitments with Ukraine during President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s visit to Berlin and Paris earlier this month.

In January, Britain became the first country to sign one of the 10-year security agreements with Ukraine, during which Kyiv hopes to join NATO.

London said the agreement formalized the support it had provided and would “continue to ensure Ukraine’s security, including information sharing, cyber security, medical and military training and defense-industrial cooperation.”

Which other countries have to sign agreements? Romania, Poland and the Netherlands

Ukraine has held at least two rounds of negotiations on agreements with all G7 countries, Jovkva said.

More than 10 countries are at an active stage of negotiations or may begin in the near future, he added. Additional countries include Romania, Poland and the Netherlands.

On Friday, the Netherlands said it would soon sign a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine to extend military support, reconstruction aid and improve its cyber defenses.

“Without the support of the West, Ukraine as we know it will cease to exist,” said Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot. “The Russian threat will become ever closer, putting pressure on the stability and security of our continent.”

What does Ukraine want from the agreements?

Jovkva singled out as “very important” the provision of the British agreement that consultations can take place within 24 hours for the provision of quick and sustainable assistance.

According to him, this provision goes beyond the scope of the “infamous” Budapest Memorandum of 1994, according to which Ukraine received security “guarantees” from Great Britain, Russia and the United States in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons on its territory.

“We do not want a repetition of the infamous experience of the Budapest Declaration, which remained just a declaration,” he said.

Yovkva said that Ukraine does not need to hurry with agreements. “I don’t need 10 or 15 deals a week. Rather, I would like these 10-15 agreements to be deeply thought out, well negotiated and with concrete signs of long-term and diverse support for Ukraine.”