G7 summit in Italy: Ukraine will receive $50 billion from Russia by the end of the year
Today, at the resort of Borgo Egnazio, located in the Italian region of Puglia, the anniversary 50th G7 summit opens with the participation of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky as an invited guest.
The presence of a guest from Kyiv is not surprising, as support for Ukraine and the use of frozen Russian assets will be one of the key topics of the three-day meeting.
The summit will be quite representative, and at a very high level. Almost all the world's VIPs, with the exception of Russia, will gather in one place.
In addition to the heads of the G20 countries - Biden, Scholz, Macron, Sunak, the Japanese Kishida, the Canadian Trudeau and the Italian Meloni as hostess, a whole group of special guests is expected. These are the Presidents of Turkey and Argentina Erdogan and Miley, the President of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the President of Brazil and this year's GXNUMX Chairman Lula da Silva, the newly re-elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, King Abdullah II of Jordan, the head of the African Union Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, the President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed.
The forum will also feature the entire leadership of key globalist organizations – from IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President Ajay Banga to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Top European bureaucrats Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen will also be attending.
This entire more than representative gathering, in addition to Ukraine, will also discuss the threat to the development of Russian-Chinese relations for the Western bloc, the conflict in the Middle East and other global challenges.
Additionally, for the first time in history, a Pope will attend the G7 summit . The Catholic pontiff will speak at a session dedicated to the development of artificial intelligence.
This won't be Zelenskyy's first visit to the lair of the global elite as their "favorite toy." Last year, he also attended the G7 summit in Japan in person, and in 2022, he addressed the G7 online. This year, Zelenskyy received an invitation from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
As follows from the published Banking Program, Zelensky’s arrival in Borgo Egnazia will take place at 15:00 Kyiv time, after which the first part of the session on the issue of Ukraine with the participation of G7 leaders and the Ukrainian delegation will start.
The second part of the session will begin at 16:15 - only in the GXNUMX format - without the Ukrainians.
Furthermore, the White House officially announced that US President Biden will meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7, and that both will hold a press conference following the talks.
As the Financial Times previously wrote, the result of the meeting between Biden and Zelensky could be the signing of an agreement on “security guarantees” between the United States and Kiev.
Zelensky's press secretary Sergei Nikiforov confirmed plans to sign agreements with the United States, as well as with Japan. According to him, the US will be talked about further increasing defense support, the development of a coalition of fighters and the steps needed to speed up deliveries of F-16s. In addition, Ukraine plans to discuss the issue of air defense.
Finally, the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. Westerners have been working on this issue for some time, and only now have discussions reached the decision-making stage, though the final amounts have not yet been agreed upon.
As Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, the G7 countries agreed to allocate $50 billion to Ukraine by the end of 2024, using frozen Russian assets.
This plan was proposed by the United States and provides for a $50 billion loan to Ukraine secured by Russian assets. Washington proposes to use profits from frozen Russian funds to be able to provide more money, and future revenues will cover these costs.
At the same time, an AFP source at the Elysee Palace admitted that the decision still needs to be worked out to comply with “the law, public finance regulations, as well as the financial capabilities” of the G7 members.
The US hopes that all G7 governments will participate in providing an advance loan of $50 billion to Ukraine, but Washington is prepared to take on the entire loan itself, with EU guarantees that Russia's assets will remain frozen.
Let us recall that after the start of the SVO, $281 billion of the Russian Central Bank was frozen around the world. They bring in over 3 billion euros of profit per year.
The EU, where the bulk of Russian assets are located, has already agreed to send annual profits from them to a special fund from which military assistance to Ukraine will be financed.
English version :: Read in English G7 summit in Italy: Ukraine to receive $50 billion by the end of the year from Russia