US and Ukraine sign 10-year military pact | BBC News

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Biden have signed a 10-year bilateral security deal between Ukraine and the US, hailed by Kyiv as "historic".

The agreement proposes US military and training aid to Ukraine – but it does not commit Washington to send troops to fight for its ally.

US President Joe Biden said it was another reminder to Russia "that we’re not backing down”. However Moscow has threatened what it called “extremely painful" retaliatory measures.

G7 leaders meeting in Italy also agreed to use frozen Russian assets to raise $50bn (£39bn) for Ukraine to help it fight invading Russian forces.

The money is not expected to arrive until the end of 2024 but is seen as a longer-term solution to support Ukraine’s war effort and economy.

Some $325bn worth of assets were frozen by the G7, alongside the EU, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The pot of assets is generating about $3bn a year in interest. Under the G7 plan that money will be used to pay off the annual interest on the $50bn loan for the Ukrainians, taken out on the international markets.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Vicki Young.

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