Calling for greater unity of the international community, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday (7 June) drew a parallel between the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy and Russia's war in Ukraine.
G7 finance ministers cited "progress" on Saturday (25 May) in finding ways to use profits from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, envisioning a concrete proposal to present to a leaders' summit next month.I’m
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."
A Russian defence ministry proposal to revise Russia’s maritime border in the eastern Baltic Sea created concern among NATO’s Northern members on Wednesday (22 May).
While most EU members, as well as the US, UK and Canada, are expected to boycott the fifth inauguration ceremony of President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (7 May), France, Hungary and Slovakia are set to send representatives.
The EU and NATO on Friday (3 May) condemned "malicious cyber activities" against Germany and Czechia, which they say were likely carried out by a Russian cyber espionage group.
Ministers from France, Germany, and Poland revealed on Monday (29 April) that the Russian disinformation network "Portal Kombat" has continued growing, with new websites targeting 19 member states and the Western Balkans, and called for more resources to tackle online disinformation ahead of June's EU elections.
French socialists’ lead candidate Raphaël Glucksmann set out his vision for the future of the EU at a political rally in Strasbourg on Wednesday, hoping to pull the rug under Emmanuel Macron’s ‘Sorbonne II’ speech the next day and establish himself as the only credible left-wing force ahead of June’s EU elections.
Political groups in the European Parliament on Friday (29 March) said they will demand swift action over Russian interference allegations and are planning to hold a debate on the issue, fearing the scandal’s effect on the upcoming June’s EU elections.
While European countries sent condolences and largely stayed away from commenting further on its implications, some fear the Russian terrorist attack could lead Putin to a more forceful response in Ukraine.
Leo Tolstoy’s famous maxim about families could easily be adapted to express an important truth about contemporary geopolitics: the economies of the EU and Russia are both unhappy, but each in its own way.
France’s government announced it will hold a parliamentary debate on the situation in Ukraine, with President Emmanuel Macron under heavy fire after he claimed on Monday (26 February) that no options - including sending troops on the ground - should be excluded in ensuring Ukraine’s victory against Russia.
The Kremlin is working to suppress memorials for the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a bid to prevent his death from spoiling President Vladimir Putin’s expected re-election next month.
EU member states on Wednesday (21 February) agreed to ban exports to three mainland Chinese firms and blacklist North Korea's defence minister in new sanctions for the second anniversary of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Hundreds of exiled anti-war Russians rallied across European capitals, often in front of Russian embassies, to mourn the death of Vladimir Putin's most vocal critic, Alexei Navalny, and vent their anger at what they said was a murder of their pride and hope.
A month before Russia's presidential election, certain to be won again by Vladimir Putin, the country's anti-war opposition in exile admits that it is unable to influence the results but hopes the West will "do the right thing".
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet his German and French counterparts on Friday (16 February) to sign bilateral security arrangements following up on their G7 July commitments, as Russia’s war against the country enters its third year.
French police found that Alexandre Benalla, a former aide to Emmanuel Macron, was involved in businesses that struck private security deals with Russian oligarchs and personally benefitted from some of the proceeds – including when he still worked at the Elysée.
The European Commission on Thursday (8 February) dismissed reports that it was considering sanctioning US right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson over his controversial interview with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
The Bulgarian prosecutor's office issued on Tuesday (30 January) a European arrest warrant for six Russian spies suspected of terrorist attacks targeting Bulgarian arms factories and warehouses.
The EU is unlikely to follow through on its threat to cut funding to Hungary if Budapest fails to approve a €50 billion Ukraine aid package later this week, experts told Euractiv.
It is unclear if Belgium will use the option in an upcoming European Union law to block imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), Belgium's energy minister said on Monday (22 January).
The European Commission is expected to table five new initiatives as part of its recent push towards a more comprehensive economic security strategy, according to a draft economic security package, obtained by Euractiv.
The EU on Wednesday (3 January) added Russia's Alrosa, the world's biggest diamond producer, as well as its CEO Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev to its sanctions list as part of its ban of import bans over Moscow's war on Ukraine.
