The leaders of seven democracies richest in the world start this Thursday in Italy its annual summit seeking to seal an agreement for an ambitious aid plan Ukraine in the form of a loan of 50,000 million dollars, financed with the assets russians blocked by West.
The presidents of USA, Joe Bidenand France, Emmanuel Macronas well as the prime ministers of Canada(Justin Trudeau), United Kingdom (Rishi Sunak), Japan (Fumio Kishida) and Germany (Olaf Scholz) will join the host, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloniin the luxury resort of Borgo Egnaziain the southern region of Pugliaby the sea Adriatic.
Although there are still doubts, the French presidency assured on Wednesday that “there is agreement” about Ukraine and that the amount will be available before the end of the year.
The objective is to use the interests generated by the nearly 300,000 million euros (325,000 million dollars) in Russian assets, frozen by the Western allies after the invasion of February 2022, as collateral to grant a loan of 50,000 million dollars to Ukraine.
Despite the announcement by the French presidency, unknowns remain about what would happen if the Russian assets were released, in the event of a hypothetical agreement with Russiaor who would assume the risk in the event of non-payment.
Washington also announced on Wednesday a new round of sanctions to stop the Russian offensive in Ukraine, targeting entities in Russia but also in China, Türkiye either United Arab Emirates.
Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskythey will also sign in the G7 a security agreement forto make clear” that the support of the United States to Ukraine “will last a long time into the future,” according to the national security advisor, Jake Sullivan.
The other big question that will be debated in Puglia It’s like reaching a truce in the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
G7 leaders have announced their support for a Biden truce proposal, which provides for the release of hostages taken by Hamas in Israel in the October 7 attack.
However, the Palestinian movement proposes certain amendments to the plan. According to the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken“Some changes are doable, others are not.”.
“The time for haggling is over,” he said. Sullivanwhile Israel has not officially announced its position on the truce and continues its offensive in the Palestinian territory.
The Italian prime minister, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the G7also invited a dozen leaders who do not belong to the group, including the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvaand Argentina, Javier Milei.
Although the press speculated about a possible meeting between Milei and Lula in Italy, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said that “there was no request” for a bilateral meeting.
Other issues will also be addressed in the thematic sessions and in the numerous bilateral meetings planned, starting with tensions with Chinaone of Russia’s main supporters.
USA and Europe They accuse Beijing of flooding markets with low-priced subsidized products, particularly electric cars.
The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modithe Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoganthe king Abdullah II of Jordan or the secretary general of the UN, Antonio Guterres.
But perhaps one of the most unexpected is the Pope Francisco87 years old, who this time comes not only as a spiritual leader, but also to give a talk on Friday about artificial intelligence and “algoretics” (the ethics of algorithms), a question that worries the Vatican.
The summit is held in Borgo Egnaziaan exclusive resort located 60 kilometers south of barithe regional capital, totally removed from the outside world, including the media.
The hotel complex, which imitates Italian architecture as if it were a theme park, is a favorite of Madonna on your trips to Italy and among other services it has its own Michelin star restaurant.
(AFP)
