G7 summit opens with deal to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine
The US proposal involves engineering a $50B loan to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia that would use interest earned on profits from Russia's frozen central bank assets.
Russia says attempts by the West to take the income from frozen Russian assets are criminal. / Photo: Reuters
A Group of Seven summit has opened with the agreement reached on a US proposal to back a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as collateral, giving Kiev a strong show of support even as Europe's political chessboard shifts to the right.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni welcomed the heads of state of the G7 leading industrialized nations to a luxury resort in southern Italy on Thursday, saying she wanted the message of the meeting to be one of dialogue with the global south and unity.
Beyond discussions on Ukraine, the war in Gaza and China's industrial policy, Pope Francis will become the first pope to address a G7 summit. He’ll be speaking Friday about the promises and perils of artificial intelligence but is expected to also renew his appeal for a peaceful end to Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine and Israel's war on Gaza.
The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Other guests include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fresh off his election, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
West awaits 'painful' response: Moscow
The US proposal involves engineering a $50 billion loan to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia that would use interest earned on profits from Russia’s frozen central bank assets, most of them held in the European Union, as collateral.
A French official, briefing reporters Wednesday, said a political decision by the leaders had been reached but that technical and legal details of the mechanism to tap into the assets still had to be worked out.
Zelenskyy listed the asset deal as one of many arrangements he hoped to see finalised during the summit, including a bilateral security agreement with the US
"I am grateful to our partners for their belief in us and our victory," he said in a post on social media platform X.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that attempts by the West to take the income from frozen Russian assets were criminal and would lead to a response from Moscow that would be very "painful" for the European Union.
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