The president of the United States, Joe Biden, aims to ensure at the G7 summit, which takes place next week in Italy, the future of Ukraine’s economic support beyond the November elections, after which Republican Donald Trump could return to the White House.
Washington’s main purpose at the summit, which will be held June 13-15 in the Italian region of Apulia, will be to close an agreement that has been in negotiation for months to that Ukraine can access a large loan that allows it to be financed in 2025.
The money for that loan will come from the $300 billion of Russian Central Bank funds that were frozen around the world, most of it in the European Union (EU), after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he explained to a small group of journalists, including EFE, a source familiar with the preparations for the event.
These funds will not be confiscated directly to be delivered to kyiv, but rather the accumulated interest on those assets, which Washington considers ownerless but Moscow claims as its own, will be used to finance the purchase of weapons and the reconstruction of Ukraine.
These assets could generate about $3 billion a year in profits, but this amount is insufficient to keep kyiv afloat, as it would only cover the financing needs of the Ukrainian Executive for one month.
The possible return of Donald Trump
Therefore, the United States has proposed another idea: using future interest as collateral for a loan that, up front, could provide Ukraine with a substantially larger sum, potentially up to $50 billion.
The main objective of the Biden administration is economically shield Ukraine from the political ups and downs of each member of the G7especially from the United States, given the possibility of a return to power of Trump, who during his term promoted isolationism under the slogan “America first.”
However, the agreement is not yet closed and the legal framework is still being debated due to the reluctance of some European countries, which fear possible Russian retaliation against the few Western companies that maintain investments in Russia or against the Euroclear securities depository in Belgium, where Most of the assets are frozen.
In any case, the US goal is to announce a general agreement in principle at the summit and specify details later through negotiations, according to the source.
In addition to this pact to guarantee funds to Ukraine, Biden will seek to explore with other leaders in the G7 the possibility of expanding sanctions on Russian entities that help the Kremlin in the war, the same official added.
China, the other front
Another hot topic at the summit will be China, a country that has been gaining relevance in the G7 debates, although the members – the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union – maintain varying positions. slightly compared to the Asian giant.
Biden, who sees Beijing as its greatest rivalwill seek to focus attention on Chinese production of clean energy technologies, such as solar panels or electric vehicles, which according to Washington is being carried out excessively with the aim of saturating the global market and eliminating competition with low prices.
Less than a month ago, Biden imposed 100% tariffs on electric vehicles made in China, and shortly after, the European Commission (EC) announced it would study similar steps.
Finally, Washington will also take advantage of the summit to talk with its allies about artificial intelligence, cooperation on immigration, and the possibility of offering emerging countries alternatives to Chinese loans, in order to distance them from Beijing’s orbit of influence.
