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G7 summit live: Biden and Zelensky to talk US support for Ukraine
Details of the plan are still being finalised in a move that would use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine.
www.bbc.co.uk
- US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are at the G7 summit in Italy and are expected to hold a press conference later today
- Top of their agenda is a plan to raise $50bn (£39bn) for Ukraine by using frozen Russian assets
- It is hoped that the plan, which officials say G7 members have agreed to, would give cash-starved and war-weary Ukraine another vital lifeline
- Representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US are at the summit to discuss issues including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza
- The G7 summit will also involve leaders from Africa and the Indo-Pacific region, and will discuss economic co-operation with developing countries
Some of those in Kyiv, who had been pushing for this cash, had wanted the G7 to release the whole frozen fund of $300bn, not merely the interest it is generating.
The European Central Bank had ruled that out. Nevertheless, this has been welcomed as an extremely important first step in supporting Ukraine’s wartime economy.
Unlike the US aid package, which directly translated into more missiles being sent to the front line, this money will likely not arrive until the end of the year, meaning it will have little impact on the current course of the war.
For now, Ukraine still urgently needs more weapons it says - primarily air defence systems, to blunt Russia’s attacks on its cities and power stations, as well as long awaited F-16 fighter jets, which it hopes will start arriving as early as this summer.
This $50b loan is more of a long-term solution to Ukraine’s financial and defence woes. Currently the west, on top of the weapons it has provided, is also sending Ukraine billions of dollars a year to keep its economy afloat. That includes paying the salaries of its teachers and doctors, and funding its pension payments and social care.
The idea is that Ukraine can use this money to invest in its own defence industry, and to produce weapons in collaboration with others, and in that way, over time, become less reliant on its western allies for its defence and survival. It will also be able to spend the funds repairing some of the extensive damage caused by the war, especially to its power stations, which are expensive to fix.
And this money is not just any money, it is Russian money. This is hugely symbolic for Ukraine. Its aggressor is now being forced to pay, not only to repair the devastation it has wrought, but for Ukraine to defend itself. One of President Zelensky’s closest advisors has said that the west’s decision to punish Russia in this way, in one sense, marks a turning point in the war.
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Excellent!
While US support for Europe's future is very, very important, Europe simply has to be ready to fight its own corner on its own. Funding the defence of Europe against Russian aggression is going to be of utmost importance in the next decade, even as some allies wish to side with an out-of-control enemy nation.
