©(Mandel NGAN/AFP)
G7 leaders were set to agree on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine as they gathered Thursday for a summit in southern Italy, using the profits from frozen Russian assets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join US President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan for the talks at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia.
Top of the agenda is a plan for an urgent $50-billion loan to help Kyiv with defense, budgetary support and reconstruction after more than two years of war with Russia.
The loan would be secured against the future profits from interest on 300 billion euros ($325 billion) of Russian central bank assets frozen by Western allies.
"Good news from the G7: another $50 billion for Ukraine," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner wrote on X.
"We are using interest from frozen assets for this - a smart instrument that shows (Russian President Vladimir) Putin our unity, greatly helps Ukraine and relieves the burden on budgets.
"Now we are working on the details."
French President Emmanuel Macron's office had on Wednesday said there was a deal on providing the money by the end of this year.
"We are on the verge of a good outcome here," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday, adding that the details still needed to be thrashed out.
Ahead of his arrival later in the day, Zelensky said he was expecting "important decisions" at the summit.
He also said he would sign two more security agreements with Japan and the United States in Puglia.
The G7 countries have been Ukraine's key military and financial backers since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Zelensky, who was due to hold a joint press conference with Biden later Thursday, has been engaged in a flurry of diplomacy aimed at boosting international support.
He spoke earlier this week in Berlin at a reconstruction conference and is set to join more than 90 countries and organizations this weekend for a peace summit in Switzerland.
Sullivan said the G7 leaders were aiming for a "common vision" on using the frozen assets.
"We have the major tentpoles of this decided but some of the specifics will be left to be worked through by experts on a defined timetable," he told reporters.
The European Union agreed earlier this year to use the profits from the frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, worth up to three billion euros a year.
But the idea at the G7 is to use this to provide more and faster help through a massive upfront loan.
The US this week also announced a raft of new sanctions aimed at constraining Moscow's war machine, while raising the stakes for foreign banks that still deal with Russia.
With AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join US President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan for the talks at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia.
Top of the agenda is a plan for an urgent $50-billion loan to help Kyiv with defense, budgetary support and reconstruction after more than two years of war with Russia.
The loan would be secured against the future profits from interest on 300 billion euros ($325 billion) of Russian central bank assets frozen by Western allies.
"Good news from the G7: another $50 billion for Ukraine," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner wrote on X.
"We are using interest from frozen assets for this - a smart instrument that shows (Russian President Vladimir) Putin our unity, greatly helps Ukraine and relieves the burden on budgets.
"Now we are working on the details."
French President Emmanuel Macron's office had on Wednesday said there was a deal on providing the money by the end of this year.
"We are on the verge of a good outcome here," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday, adding that the details still needed to be thrashed out.
Common vision
Ahead of his arrival later in the day, Zelensky said he was expecting "important decisions" at the summit.
He also said he would sign two more security agreements with Japan and the United States in Puglia.
The G7 countries have been Ukraine's key military and financial backers since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Zelensky, who was due to hold a joint press conference with Biden later Thursday, has been engaged in a flurry of diplomacy aimed at boosting international support.
He spoke earlier this week in Berlin at a reconstruction conference and is set to join more than 90 countries and organizations this weekend for a peace summit in Switzerland.
Sullivan said the G7 leaders were aiming for a "common vision" on using the frozen assets.
"We have the major tentpoles of this decided but some of the specifics will be left to be worked through by experts on a defined timetable," he told reporters.
The European Union agreed earlier this year to use the profits from the frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, worth up to three billion euros a year.
But the idea at the G7 is to use this to provide more and faster help through a massive upfront loan.
The US this week also announced a raft of new sanctions aimed at constraining Moscow's war machine, while raising the stakes for foreign banks that still deal with Russia.
With AFP
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