UK’s Sunak tries to smooth things out after defense sec urges Ukrainian ‘gratitude’
VILNIUS — Ukraine’s president has expressed gratitude to Kyiv’s allies “countless times,” Rishi Sunak said Wednesday, as he tried to iron out the diplomatic wrinkles caused by comments from his own defense secretary.
Speaking at a press conference on the last day of the NATO summit in Vilnius, the British prime minister said Volodymyr Zelenskyy had expressed gratitude to him personally on multiple occasions. Sunak noted that the Ukrainian people fight for their lives and freedom every day due to Russian aggression.
“President Zelenskyy has repeatedly expressed his gratitude to me and to the British people and indeed other allies as well,” Sunak said. “He did it very movingly in parliament when he was in the U.K. earlier this year. He continues to be grateful for our support and our leadership, and the welcome that we’ve extended to many Ukrainian families. I think everyone can see that that’s how he feels.”
Sunak was asked repeatedly about remarks made earlier by U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who said Ukraine had to put more emphasis on showing “gratitude” to “doubting politicians” in the U.S. and other allied countries who might not be completely convinced of the need to maintain military and economic support to Kyiv.
The prime minister did not say whether he was worried about the potential diplomatic impact of a related comment made by Wallace, in which he said Ukraine’s allies are “not Amazon” — in reference to Kyiv’s provision of lists of weaponry needed.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told a press conference that he thought “the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude … for their willingness to step up.”
‘New high point’
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy vented his disappointment with the wording of the summit’s communiqué, which contained a reference to “conditions” that Ukraine should meet before receiving an invitation to join NATO. The Ukrainian leader toned down his comments on Wednesday, but demanded “specifics” about these conditions.
Sunak struck a sympathetic note, saying he completely understood “Volodymyr’s desire to do everything he can to protect his people and to stop this war and we will continue to give them the support that he needs.”
The prime minister spoke just after the G7 group of the seven most industrialized economies published an umbrella statement kicking off negotiations with Ukraine to formalize bilateral security commitments to protect the war-torn country in the longer term — ranging from additional military equipment and “other key capabilities, such as combat air”, support to develop Ukraine’s defense industrial base, more training of Ukrainian forces, and intelligence sharing, to further financial support.
While describing the arrangements as a “new high point” in support from the international community, Sunak acknowledged that the G7 agreement was not a “substitute” for Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
Asked whether he saw Ukraine joining NATO within a year of a cease-fire, Sunak said this week’s summit “is a very significant moment on the journey towards membership and when conditions allow membership will happen.”
“I think that is very clear from today’s summit that people’s view is Ukraine will and should be a member of NATO,” he added. “That’s what you’ve heard loud and clear coming out of this summit.”
Sunak was one of a number of NATO leaders who met with Zelenskyy bilaterally on Wednesday morning. The Ukrainian president accepted an invitation by Sunak to talk without aides in the room, and thanked him for helping secure additional security guarantees for Ukraine.
“We discussed Ukraine’s defense needs, further cooperation to expand the capabilities of the Ukrainian army on the battlefield, in particular through long-range weapons and, in the future, modern western aviation,” Zelenskyy said after the meeting.
