News | Global Europe 28-05-2024
Ukraine's top commander said on Monday (27 May) he had signed paperwork allowing French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres soon.
News 28-05-2024
Moldovan citizens will go to the polls for presidential elections and a referendum on the country’s future EU integration in October, but for Chisinau's pro-EU government, the bigger challenge until then is the fight against Russian disinformation.
News | Defence and security 28-05-2024
NATO foreign ministers are expected to discuss a support package for Ukraine at length when they meet in Prague on Friday (31 May) ahead of the alliance's July summit in Washington.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Brussels on Tuesday (28 May) to sign a security pact with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. His visit to Belgium comes a day after the Ukrainian leader signed a similar bilateral security …
News 27-05-2024
EU foreign ministers on Monday (27 May) have repeated calls on the Georgian government to repeal the controversial 'foreign agent' law and are likely to decide on potential measures in June.
EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday (27 May) vented their anger with Hungary's "pattern of behaviour" which increasingly often blocks EU foreign policy decisions and prevents progress on crucial military aid for Ukraine.
In an interview with Euractiv, the Ukrainian deputy minister of digital transformation on IT industry development, Oleksandr Bornyakov, laid out his vision for how the country can use defence tech innovation to boost its economy and change modern warfare.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sunday (26 May) to attend his peace summit as Ukraine struggles to stave off unrelenting attacks by Russia in its 27-month-old invasion.
Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, dozens of projects have emerged in Ukraine to combat disinformation. This is a daily challenge for Ukrainians and, given the high level of media literacy in society, they have been able to resist.
News | Global Europe 26-05-2024
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that European banks face growing risks operating in Russia and the US is looking at strengthening its secondary sanctions on banks found to be aiding transactions for Russia's war effort.
News | Global Europe 25-05-2024
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday (24 May) that Ukrainian forces had secured "combat control" of areas where Russian troops staged an incursion this month in northern parts of Kharkiv region.
News | Global Europe 24-05-2024
Russia will identify US property, including securities, that could be used as compensation for losses sustained as a result of any seizure of frozen Russian assets in the US, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin.
News 23-05-2024
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday (23 May) accused an unnamed EU Commissioner of trying to "blackmail" him over the adoption of a controversial ‘foreign agent’ law.
Stresa, Italy, May 23, 2024 (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday urged G7 ministers meeting in Italy to work on "more ambitious options" to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.
The ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven world powers are meeting in Stresa, on the shores of northern Italy's Lake Maggiore, to prepare for a summit of G7 heads of state next month in Puglia.
Top of the agenda is a plan to finance crucial aid to Ukraine using the interest generated by the 300 billion euros ($325 billion) of Russian central bank assets frozen by the G7 and Europe.
The European Union took a first step in agreeing a deal this month to seize revenues from frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine, a windfall that will reach 2.5 to three billion euros ($2.7-$3.3 billion) a year.
In a press conference before the meeting, Yellen welcomed this plan but added: "We must also continue our collective work on more ambitious options, considering all relevant risks and acting together."
She said she wanted "concrete options" to present to G7 leaders, adding: "Failure to take additional action is not an option -- not for Ukraine's future and not for the stability of our own economies and the security of our peoples."
The United States has proposed granting Ukraine, which has been fighting a Russian invasion for more than two years, up to $50 billion in loans secured by this interest.
The details of the US plan have not yet been finalised, including who would issue the debt -- the US alone or G7 countries as a whole.
But it will serve as a basis for G7 discussions, according to a Treasury source in Italy, which as G7 president this year is hosting the Stresa talks.
The US proposal is an "interesting way forward" but "any decision must have a solid legal basis", the source said.
Time is of the essence, as the slow speed of European material reaching Kyiv and the near-halt in US aid for months during wrangling in Washington have strained Ukraine's capabilities just as Russia has regained the initiative on the ground.
In addition to the United States and Italy, the G7 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan.
- Legal issues -
Yellen had initially advocated a more radical solution -- the confiscation of the Russian assets themselves.
But European countries worried about creating a precedent in international law and the risk of serious legal disputes with Moscow.
Stresa host Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italy's economy minister, has made no secret of the complexity of the issue.
He said Rome would be an "honest mediator" in discussions but said the task was "very delicate".
In April, Moscow sent a thinly veiled warning to Italy in its capacity as G7 chair, taking "temporary" control of the Russian subsidiary of the Italian heating equipment group Ariston in retaliation for what it called "hostile actions" by Washington and its allies.
Experts warn that any further G7 action against Russia could lead to similar reprisals hitting other European companies still operating in the country.
John Kirton, director of the University of Toronto's G7 Research Group, said that tapping just the interest on Russian assets "would considerably reduce the legal problems".
"Legally, it would not be confiscating the 'assets'," he told AFP.
France on Wednesday welcomed the US plan, saying it was hoping the G7 finance ministers would reach a deal this week.
"The Americans have made proposals that fall within the framework of international law, and we are going to work on them openly and constructively," Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
- China overproduction -
Yellen said the Stresa meeting would consider "additional action" against Moscow for its war in Ukraine, including to restrict its access to critical goods that support its military.
She also said the G7 ministers would discuss responses to what she called China's "overcapacity" of key green technologies such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels.
The US is concerned that Chinese government support is leading to more production capacity than global markets can absorb, driving cheap exports and stifling growth elsewhere.
"Overcapacity threatens the viability of firms around the world, including in emerging markets," she said.
She added: "It's critical that we and the growing numbers of countries who have identified this as a concern present a clear and united front."
News | Global Europe 23-05-2024
G7 finance ministers gather in Italy on Thursday (23 May) for a three-day meeting dominated by plans to use Russian assets to help Ukraine, as well as new sanctions on Moscow and the commercial threat posed by China.
News 22-05-2024
Ukrainian servicemen operating a howitzer in Kharkiv region near the Russian border work around the clock to stop an incursion by Moscow's troops, and they are finally getting the shells to do it.
Georgia must repeal the 'foreign influence' law as it could be used to silence critical voices, according to The Council of Europe’s top constitutional law body, the Venice Commission, on Tuesday (21 May). Georgian lawmakers passed the controversial Kremlin-style law last …
News 21-05-2024
The European Union on Tuesday (21 May) signed a security and defence pact with Moldova to help the pro-Western country boost its ability to tackle threats from Russia.
Opinion | Azerbaijan 21-05-2024
A few months ago we described Qatar as a “cunning state”. Cunning means the quality or skill of being clever at planning something to reach your goals, even by tricking others. Lately, it has emerged that Azerbaijan has also resorted to cunning strategies to punch above its weight.
News | Enlargement & Neighbourhood 21-05-2024
Several EU member states called on Tuesday (21 May) for the bloc to start membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova by the end of June, but several technical and political obstacles remain for the decision to be taken.
Opinion | Agrifood 21-05-2024
The agriculture ministers from Nordic-Baltic countries urge the EU to strongly support Ukraine’s ability to export its agricultural products to the EU and to world markets.
News | Global Europe 21-05-2024
Western allies are taking too long to make key decisions on military support for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters in an exclusive interview in Kyiv on Monday (20 May).
News | Global Europe 19-05-2024
Even if Ukrainian forces can hold out until all the American ammunition and weapons get through to the front, the challenge ahead remains daunting, according to many of those fighting.
News 18-05-2024
Georgian President Salome Zourabishvili on Saturday (18 May) put a mostly symbolic veto on the "foreign influence" law that sparked unprecedented protests and warnings from Brussels that the measure would undermine Tbilisi's European aspirations.
