Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Joe Biden of the US sign bilateral security agreement. In order to assist Ukraine fend against Russian armies who are invading its territory, the G7 has decided to leverage frozen Russian assets to generate $50 billion (£39 billion).
Although Moscow has warned "extremely painful" reprisal measures, US President Joe Biden said it was only another message to Russia "that we're not backing down." Although the funds are not anticipated to come until the end of the year, they are seen to be a longer-term solution to help Ukraine's economy and military effort. A 10-year bilateral security agreement between the US and Ukraine was inked at the G7 conference in Italy by Mr. Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which Kyiv has hailed as "historic".
Although the pact does not bind Washington to sending soldiers to fight for its friend, it does envision US military and training assistance to Ukraine. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the G7 and the EU freeze assets valued at almost $325 billion. The interest generated by the assets is around $3 billion annually.
The $3 billion will be used, in accordance with the G7 arrangement, to settle the yearly interest on the $50 billion loan that the Ukrainians obtained from foreign markets.
President Biden said that the $50 billion loan will "put that money to work for Ukraine before sending another reminder to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that we're not backing aside" at a joint press conference held at the summit's location in Puglia, southern Italy. Mr. Putin "cannot wait us out, he cannot divide us, as well as we'll be with Ukraine until they prevail in this war," the US president said.
President Zelensky expressed gratitude to his friends, Americans and others, for their continuous support.
"It's a truly historic day and we have signed most agreement within Ukraine and the US since our independence [in 1991]," he said, making reference to the new security accord. The wealthy G7 countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—have provided significant financial and military assistance to Ukraine as it fights to keep Russian soldiers from invading its territory.
The $50 billion loan agreement was praised by other G7 leaders as well; UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called it "game changing". The majority of the Central Bank of Russia's frozen assets are kept in Belgium. Countries are not allowed to take such assets from Russia and deliver them to Ukraine under international law. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova issued a warning that there will be "extremely painful" retaliation actions some hours before the G7 decision was made public.
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