G7 says will try to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine

The G7 will explore ways of using the future income from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrial democracies said, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

"We are making progress in our discussions on potential avenues to bring forward the extraordinary profits stemming from immobilized Russian sovereign assets to the benefit of Ukraine," the draft statement said on Saturday.

The G7 froze some $300 billion of Russian assets shortly after Moscow invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

The statement will not undergo significant changes before a final version to be released later on Saturday, a G7 source said.

The ministers will be joined on Saturday by Ukraine's Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, whose war-torn country is struggling to contain a Russian offensive in the north and the east, more than two years after Moscow first invaded.

The statement said the finance ministers and central bankers, who are meeting in Stresa, northern Italy, aim to present options on Ukraine funding for the G7 heads of government to consider at a summit in mid-June.

"Consistent with our respective legal systems, Russia's sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilised until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine," the statement said.