Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies agreed on an outline deal on Thursday to provide $50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow launched its invasion of its neighbour in 2022.
The political agreement was the centre-piece of the opening day in southern Italy of the annual summit of G7 leaders, attended for a second successive year by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The G7 plan for Ukraine is based on a multi-year loan using profits from some $300bn of impounded Russian funds.
The technical details will be finalised in the coming weeks, a G7 diplomatic source told media.
A senior US official said the United States had agreed to provide up to $50bn itself, but that amount could decline significantly as other countries announced their participation.
The aim of the deal was to ensure it can run for years regardless of who is in power in each G7 state — a nod to concerns that US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump might be much less sympathetic to Kyiv if he beats Biden in November, according to a person close to the talks.
While Meloni is flying high after triumphing in weekend European elections, the leaders of the other six nations — the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Britain and Canada — face major domestic woes that risk undermining their authority.
The G7 leaders also expressed their concerns about the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border and endorsed US efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a draft communique due to be released following the summit.—Agencies
