G7 leaders reach ‘political deal’ on new Ukraine funds: US

AFP | Milan

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

G7 leaders agreed at a summit in Italy yesterday on a new $50-billion loan for Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian assets, a US official said. “We have political agreement at the highest levels for this deal,” a senior Biden administration official said on condition of anonymity.

“And it is $50 billion this year that will be committed to Ukraine.” US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan yesterday began two days of summit talks in Puglia, southern Italy.

Increasing support for Ukraine now in the third year of its war with Russia was top of the agenda, with President Volodymyr Zelensky joining for a special session yesterday. The EU agreed earlier this year to help Kyiv using the profits from the interest on Russian central bank assets frozen by Western allies.

However the US has been pushing for more and faster help through a massive upfront loan although it was not clear who would issue the money, and who would cover the risk. The US was willing to provide up to $50 billion, the official said yesterday but said its contribution could be “significantly less” as it would be a shared initiative.

“We will not be the only lenders. This will be a loan syndicate. We’re going to share the risk because we have a shared commitment to get this done,” the official said. He would not say how much other G7 countries would contribute, beyond saying that the final summit statement in Puglia would speak of “loans plural”.

Show unity - The G7 countries which count the European Union as their unofficial eighth member -- have been Ukraine’s key military and financial backers since Russia invaded in February 2022. “Today the G7 in Bari will show unity. Unity for Ukraine’s freedom,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote earlier on X. Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, added: “Good news from the G7: another $50 billion for Ukraine.”