Ukraine signs security pacts with EU, Lithuania and Estonia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders attend a family photo session, during the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and two of its member countries, Lithuania and Estonia, signed security agreements with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

The agreement with the EU lays out the bloc's commitment to help Ukraine in nine areas of security and defence policy - including arms deliveries, military training, defence industry cooperation and demining, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, European Council President Charles Michel, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a family photo session, during the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

The pact - along with the documents signed with Lithuania and Estonia - is intended to complement other similar agreements sealed between Ukraine and its allies as it continues its defence against Russia's invasion.

Countries including the United States, Britain, France and Germany have sealed such pacts with Kyiv.

Officials say the agreements are not the same as the mutual defence pact between NATO nations, but are pledges to provide Ukraine with weapons and other aid to bolster its own security and deter any future invasion.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Tassilo Hummel and Andrew Gray; Editing by Alex Richardson)