Group of Seven leaders have decided to allocate $50 billion to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets by the end of the year, as announced by the French presidency on Wednesday (June 12).
“We have an agreement,” a presidency official stated before the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday (June 13), which will concentrate on supporting Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
G7 leaders had aimed to agree on a deal to use the profits from the interest on 300 billion euros ($325 billion) of frozen Russian central bank assets to help Kyiv, using the profits as collateral for a loan of up to $50 billion.
US President Joe Biden is set to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday during the G7 summit in Puglia, Italy.
“There’s a possibility that Russia might regain access to the frozen assets, or the income from those assets might not be enough to cover the loan. In that case, we’ll need to discuss how to share the responsibility of repaying the loan,” the official said.
Biden to sign new security agreement with Ukraine
US President Joe Biden will sign a new security agreement with Ukraine on Thursday to pledge America’s long-term support to the country.
“The agreement will assure our support will last long into the future, mostly in the defense and security space,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
“By signing this we’ll also be sending Russia a signal of our resolve. If Putin thinks he can outlast the coalition supporting Ukraine, he’s wrong,” Sullivan said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is traveling to Italy to attend the G7 summit, which is expected to focus on Ukraine and Gaza ceasefire discussions.
The summit will take place between June 13-15 at the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort in the Puglia region, with leaders from seven member countries, the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France, as well as the European Union in attendance.
India, invited to the G7 summit as an outreach country, has defense and maritime cooperation on its agenda, according to Ambassador Vani Rao.