G7 leaders agree to lend Ukraine $50 billion backed by Russia's frozen assets
France 24Jun 13
Heads of state from the Group of Seven (G7) countries have agreed to use the profits from frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, according to sources who briefed the media on Thursday.
Under the agreement, Ukraine would receive a mostly US-backed loan of $50B by the end of the year, which would then be paid for from the interest generated on immobilized Russian central bank assets that total an estimated $260B.
The purpose of this agreement is to give Ukraine the resources to continue fending off Russia's aggression and rebuild after the war is won. While some world leaders, even in the West, have been half-hearted in their support for Ukraine, the G7 on Thursday showed that it's still ready to defeat Putin militarily and make him pay to rebuild what he's destroyed.
This is banditry and theft — pure and simple. Using revenue from Russia's frozen assets to fund Ukraine in the conflict is yet another example of the West degrading its own standards and violating its commitments to international law. The saddest part is that Europe knows this will backfire economically, as Russia will be forced to respond with its own measures.