G7 leaders reach 'political' deal on Ukraine funds

RFI

13 June 2024 at 7:00 am·2-min read

G7 leaders agreed Thursday at a summit in Italy 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 on Thursday began two days of talks in Puglia, southern Italy.

Increasing support for war-torn Ukraine was top of the agenda, with President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the G7 leaders for a special session Thursday.

The EU agreed earlier this year to use the profits from the interest on Russian central bank assets frozen by Western allies after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of its neighbour to help Kyiv.

But the idea at the G7 is to use this money to provide more and faster help through a massive upfront loan.

The loan would be eventually repaid with the future profits – although there is a risk that the funding stream dries up if the assets are unfrozen, for example in the event of a peace deal.

Global turmoil

The summit comes at a time of extraordinary global turmoil.

Apart from the conflict in Ukraine, the Hamas-Israel conflict is raging and economic tensions are rising between China and Western countries.

Many G7 countries are also in political flux. Everyone in Puglia is aware this could be Biden's last G7 summit if he loses to Donald Trump in November US elections.

(with AFP)

Reuters
Taiwan warns against travel to China after execution threat
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's government raised its travel warning for China on Thursday, telling its citizens not to go unless absolutely necessary, following a threat from Beijing last week to execute those deemed "diehard" Taiwan independence supporters. Liang Wen-chieh, spokesperson for Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, told reporters the raised travel warning also applied to the Chinese-run cities of Hong Kong and Macau. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has made no secret of its dislike of President Lai Ching-te, whom it views as a "separatist", and staged two days of war games after he took office last month.
The Telegraph
South Korea is running out of children – and this country could be next
Every spring, when warm rays of sunshine herald the start of South Korea’s baking summer, fountains across Seoul’s central Gwanghwamun plaza suddenly burst into life, sending cooling jets of water into the air.
HuffPost
Social Media Predicts Outcome Of Trump-Biden Debate — And It's Hilarious
Pundits and politicians aren’t the only ones offering their hot takes on how Thursday’s CNN event will go.
Associated Press
Indonesia detains 103 foreigners in a raid in Bali involving suspected cybercrime
Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 foreign nationals after a raid at a villa on the resort island of Bali, officials said Thursday. Immigration authorities said they conducted the raid on Wednesday at a villa in Kukuh village in Tabanan district and detained 91 men and 12 women.
The Telegraph
Iran is preparing to open a new front in its war against Israel
If, as the polls indicate, Labour will form our new government next week, it is likely that one of its first challenges will be how to respond to the eruption of full-scale hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Reuters
Modi's govt calls on Indian state to look into Reuters report on Foxconn hiring
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Wednesday said it has asked the Tamil Nadu state to submit a "detailed report" after a Reuters story revealed that Apple supplier Foxconn rejected married women from iPhone assembly jobs in the country. In a statement calling for the probe, the federal government's Ministry of Labour and Employment cited the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976, saying the law "clearly stipulates that no discrimination (is) to be made while recruiting men and women workers." The ministry said it has requested a detailed report from the Labour Department of Tamil Nadu, site of a major iPhone factory where Reuters uncovered Foxconn’s practice of shunning married women from jobs.
Twentytwo13
Ex-Kuwaiti Hornets to join RMAF fleet, Su-30MKMs to be upgraded to ‘Super Flankers’ under bold, ambitious plan
Game changer – The RMAF’s capabilities will undergo a massive transformation under a bold and ambitious new roadmap that will see the introduction of a fifth-generation stealth fighter, upgraded Su-30MKM Flankers, and additional F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters from ex-Kuwaiti stocks. The post Ex-Kuwaiti Hornets to join RMAF fleet, Su-30MKMs to be upgraded to ‘Super Flankers’ under bold, ambitious plan appeared first on Twentytwo13.
The Independent
‘This party should fall’: MAGA candidate who didn’t win Boebert’s old seat calls Republican Party ‘irredeemable’
Volunteers and supporters of grassroots Colorado Republican Ron Hanks, who’d hoped to fill the congressional seat vacated by fellow MAGA diehard Lauren Boebert, gathered Tuesday night at a Grand Junction brewery for a watch party. Hanks lamented the results — and the state of the Republican Party. Sheila Flynn reports from the third congressional district
AFP News
Israel says it can send Lebanon 'back to Stone Age' as UN warns against war
Israel said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbour "back to the Stone Age", as the UN's humanitarian chief warned such a conflict would be "potentially apocalyptic".It's potentially apocalyptic," warned Griffiths, whose term ends this week.
Associated Press
The Latest | Gaza families bid a tearful goodbye to critically ill kids leaving for treatment abroad
Families bid a tearful goodbye to over a dozen critically ill children who left Gaza for treatment abroad on Thursday. It’s the first medical evacuation since the territory’s sole travel crossing shut down in early May after Israeli forces captured it, Palestinian officials say. Israeli authorities say 68 people — 19 sick and injured children plus their companions — have been allowed out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt.
HuffPost
Newsmax Slaps Very Awkward Note On Screen During Donald Trump Interview
Critics on social media suggested the chyron meant one thing.
The Hill
Alito rails against White House in social media case dissent
Justice Samuel Alito railed against the White House in a dissenting Supreme Court opinion Wednesday, accusing the Biden administration of leading a “campaign to coerce Facebook” when it attempted to moderate misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic on social media. Joined by fellow conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, Alito dissented from his six colleagues…
Fortune
Beijing backtracks on a law punishing clothing that hurts ‘the feelings of the Chinese people’ after a public outcry
People were concerned about the law's vagueness, after reported incidents where officials targeted people wearing traditional Japanese clothing.
CNN
Biden administration moves toward allowing American military contractors to deploy to Ukraine
The Biden administration is moving towards lifting a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine, four US officials familiar with the matter told CNN, to help the country’s military maintain and repair US-provided weapons systems.
The Hill
Speaker Johnson: ‘No one expects that Joe Biden will be on cocaine’ at debate
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that no one expects President Biden to be “on cocaine” during the debate later this week, despite President Trump and his allies suggesting otherwise. Johnson joined CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to discuss how at a recent rally, Trump told his supporters that Biden is “gonna be so pumped up” and…
HuffPost
Marjorie Taylor Greene Melts Down Over Australian TV’s Trump Question, Gets Cut Off
“What is this?” fumed the far-right Georgia Republican, who suggested the anchor was getting her “marching orders from the Democrat Party.”
INSIDER
South Korea's military fires on border islands for the first time in 7 years as a North Korean missile fails and the balloon war rages on
It's been a noticeably tense time on the Korean peninsula lately with spats, deals, and muscle flexing.
HuffPost
Critics Clown Marjorie Taylor Greene Over Wild Election 'Self-Own': 'NO Self Awareness'
Social media users spotted the far-right Republican's hypocrisy as she argued to reduce a top official's salary to $1 over DEI directives.
HuffPost
Ex-Trump White House Attorney Burns Docs Judge With What 'Seems To Be Her New Last Name'
CNN's Erin Burnett laughed at Ty Cobb's suggestion.
HuffPost
Chris Wallace's Stunning Claim On Trump Strategy For Debate Cracks Up CNN Pundit
Wallace's claim about the former president's planned approach was too much for Jamie Gangel, who repeatedly laughed.

Global turmoil

Latest stories