The summit of the group of the seven richest countries in the world (G7) gave clear support to Ukraine with a package worth 50 billion dollars, announced this Thursday, June 13, on the social network X the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
“G7 Summit. Unequivocal support for Ukraine, international law and a fair peace”, stated the Ukrainian leader, publishing a photo with world leaders during the meeting, which takes place in Italy.
“Every day we reinforce our positions and our defense of life”, he stated.
The $50 billion (€46.3 billion) support package will be financed by interest on frozen Russian assets.
“Each meeting serves the purpose of giving Ukraine new opportunities for victory. I am grateful to all our partners,” Zelensky added.
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the G7, has since confirmed this agreement.
“I confirm that we have reached a political agreement to provide additional financial support to Ukraine,” Meloni said in an official statement at the end of the first day of the G7 leaders’ meeting (Germany, Canada, United States United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, plus the European Union).
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, considered, in turn, that this support is a “strong signal to Ukraine” in the conflict with Russia.
“We will support Kiev in its fight for freedom for as long as necessary”, promised the European official, highlighting that the measure constitutes a position taken towards Moscow.
“It is also a strong signal to [Presidente russo, Vladimir] Putin: he can’t win”, he added, recalling that in addition to this amount there are “50 billion euros of aid from the European Union (EU) and 60 billion euros of aid from the United States”.
Also present at the G7 meeting, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the decision as “historic” and a “clear signal to the Russian President” of the EU’s commitment.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the United States, the EU and their allies blocked 260 billion euros of Russian central bank funds worldwide, most of which are deposited in financial institutions in Europe.
Faced with Ukraine’s growing financial needs, the G7 argues that the country’s reconstruction and weapons purchases, among other needs, can be financed with the profits generated by Russian assets while they are immobilized in different banks.
Family photo from the G7 meeting, taking place in Italy: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the host, poses with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida
Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
Ukrinform
NATO wants to avoid delays in military support
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also praised the agreement, but defended the need for specific funds for military support.
“NATO proposes a minimum financial commitment of 40 billion euros per year, focused exclusively on military support, which will allow us to maintain the level of mutual support that we have provided until now”, stated Stoltenberg, adding that this solution It will provide “predictability and greater accountability”, as there have been cases where allies make commitments and then fail to fulfill them.
For Stoltenberg, if NATO implements a contribution of this type, it will be possible to “measure, evaluate and compare” the different types of support.
To this end, he proposed that countries base their contributions on their gross domestic product (GDP), with the United States guaranteeing 50% (representing 50% of the combined GDP of NATO countries) and Canada and the European allies the other 50%.
The objective is, the representative stressed, “to avoid what we have seen in recent months, with serious delays in the delivery of military support, which created major problems for Ukrainians on the battlefield.”
Stoltenberg also said that he hopes that the allies will approve this plan on Friday for NATO to further centralize the management of military aid and the training of Ukrainian soldiers.
