G7 will try to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine

25/5/2024 17:28

        The G7 will explore ways of using the future income from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrial democracies said on Saturday, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.
        
        The G7 and its allies froze some $300 billion of Russian assets shortly after Moscow invaded its neighbour in February 2022.
        
        G7 negotiators have been discussing for weeks how to best exploit the assets, such as major currencies and government bonds, which are mostly held in European-based depositories.
        
        The United States has been pushing its G7 partners - Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada - to back a loan that could provide Kyiv with as much as $50 billion in the near term.
        
        The cautious wording of the statement, containing no figures or details, reflects numerous legal and technical aspects which still need to be hammered out before such a loan could be issued.