Zelenskyy To Sign Security Deal w/France Ahead Of MSC Appearance

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to the French capital Paris on 16 Feb to sign a bilateral security deal with his counterpart Emmanuel Macron. The signing of bilateral security deals is seen as a compromise between G7 members and Ukraine in lieu of NATO membership for Kyiv. The Elysee Palace has given little detail on the exact provisions of the deal, but says that the agreement intends “to reaffirm France’s determination to continue to provide unwavering support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, over the long term and with all its partners.” Macron had been due to travel to Ukraine this week, but the visit was postponed due to security concerns.

• Zelenskyy is then expected to go onto the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in the Bavarian capital, where Handelsblatt reports that he will meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris.
• The meeting with Harris - who is at the MSC alongside US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken - could prove a key opportunity for Zelenskyy to impress on the Biden administration his country's desperate need for the USD95bn National Security Supplemental to pass in Congress. Without the ~USD60bn allotted to Ukraine in the package, the prospects of Ukrainian forces holding out against - let alone repelling - Russian forces will be substantially reduced.