President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a deal Thursday in Italy on the sidelines of the G7 summit, committing the United States to deepening "security and defense cooperation [with Ukraine] and collaborating closely with Ukraine's broad network of security partners" for the next ten years.
The White House characterized the pact, which further paves the eastern European nation's way toward membership in NATO, as a "powerful signal of our strong support for Ukraine now and into the future."
At a joint press conference with Zelenskyy, Biden said, "Our goal is to strengthen Ukraine's credible defense and deterrence capabilities for the long term."
While Biden stressed it "makes a lot of sense for Ukraine to be able to take out or combat what is going across that border," he did, however, rule out Ukraine expanding its use of American missiles in Russia.
