Remarks With Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the Group of Seven (G-7) Nations Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine in Vilnius, Lithuania

Prime Minister Kishida. I am pleased to be able to announce the Joint Declaration on Support for Ukraine today.

At the G-7 Hiroshima summit, by engaging in discussions that included a wide range of invited countries, we agreed that unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion are unacceptable anywhere in the world and to safeguard a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

I feel that it is truly meaningful that we, the G-7 leaders, and Volodymyr have gathered once again today. Going forward, this declaration will be open to any country that shares the intention to support Ukraine. I hope many countries will choose to join. The G-7 will continue to stand by Ukraine. Our solidarity will never waver.

Thank you very much.

President Biden. Let me start off by saying something that I hadn't planned on saying. You know, I think there are very few people in Europe or in the continental United States, in the North American continent, that thought this man would stand up and come to the aid and assistance of Ukraine. He increased his military budget. He stepped up—Japan—Japan—because he understood that when any part of the world has 185,000 people, soldiers crossing a border, stealing sovereignty from another nation, that it affects the whole world.

I want to thank you again publicly.

We've just concluded the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council and—where all our allies agreed Ukraine's future lies in NATO. That's not a surprise to any of us, I don't think. I hope it's not a surprise to you, Mr. President.

Allies all agreed to lift the requirements for Membership Action Plan for Ukraine and to create a path to NATO membership while Ukraine continues to make progress on necessary reforms.

But we're not waiting for that process to be finished to make the long-term commitments that we're making to Ukraine's security. Volodymyr and I, we—the—I shouldn't be so familiar—Mr. Zelenskyy and I talked about the kind of guarantees we could make in the meantime when I was in Ukraine and when we met in other places.

And so today the long-term commitments we're making are backed up by the notion that in the meantime we're going to provide security to Ukraine for its needs and against any aggression that may occur.

Today the members of the G-7 are launching a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine to make it clear that our support will last long into the future. This starts a process by which each of our nations and any other nation who wishes to participate will negotiate long-term bilateral security commitments with and to Ukraine.

We're going to help Ukraine build a strong, capable defense across land, air, and sea from which we will force the—it will be a force of stability in the region and deter against any and all threats.

I want to thank my fellow G-7 leaders and President Zelenskyy for their work to make this happen. I think it's a powerful statement—a powerful statement—of our commitment to Ukraine as it defends its freedom today and as it rebuilds the future for—and we're going to be there as long as that takes.

And, again, I thank all my colleagues for their support for this.

President Zelenskyy. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

President Biden; Prime Minister Kishida; Chancellor—I don't see—I see you—Chancellor Scholz; Prime Minister Sunak; President Macron; Prime Minister Trudeau; Prime Minister Meloni; President Michel; President von der Leyen: A great honor to be here.

The outcome of the NATO summit in Vilnius is very much needed and meaningful success for Ukraine. And I am grateful to all leaders in NATO countries for very practical and unprecedented support considering decades of our relations' support for Ukraine.

Today, there are security guarantees for Ukraine on the way to NATO, an important package of security guarantees. Today, we are coordinating with the G-7 countries the framework for security guarantee that shall be further extended through arrangements with our key partners, bilateral and multilateral agreements.

And Ukrainian delegation is bringing home significant security victory for the Ukraine, for our country, for our people, for our children. It opens for us absolutely new security opportunities, and I thank everyone who made it possible. Thank you, dear colleagues. Thanks, you—thanks, Lithuanian, and Jens Stoltenberg. Thank you very much.

Slava Ukraini.