Denmark signs 10-year security agreement with Ukraine

COPENHAGEN — Denmark, one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, said on Thursday it had reached a 10-year security agreement with Kyiv, following similar deals signed recently by Berlin, London and Paris.

Ukraine has been keen to shore up its security with bilateral agreements while it waits in hope of someday joining the NATO defence alliance.

“The agreement means that future military and civilian support will be established in a framework for the next 10 years in a bilateral political agreement,” Denmark’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The support will be financed by Denmark’s Ukraine Foundation, currently valued at 69.1 billion kroner ($10 billion), it said.

Denmark is the fourth-biggest donor of military aid to Ukraine, according to recent data from the Germany-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

“Denmark is one of the countries supporting Ukraine the most, and I’m proud,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters.

“The commitments build bridges to Ukraine’s future EU and NATO membership,” the government said in its statement.

The announcement came as the Danish defence ministry unveiled its 15th package of military aid to Ukraine, this one worth 1.7 billion kroner.

It said it had, through contacts with the Czech Republic, financed the purchase of 15,000 artillery munitions to be delivered to Ukraine “within a few months”.

The package also includes air defence, mine clearance materiel and drones.

It said the first F-16 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine last year, together with the Netherlands and Norway, would be delivered by the summer, “if everything continues as planned”.

The Danish security commitment includes continued donation of military material and training, “but it also heralds a much closer cooperation between Denmark and Ukraine, which among other things involves cyber and intelligence cooperation,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in the statement.