G7 Agrees to Support Ukraine with $50 Billion Using Frozen Russian Assets

First Day of Summit Confirms Ukraine Aid Plan
Russia Immediately Denounces It as a "Crime"

The Group of Seven (G7) has agreed to provide $50 billion (approximately 69 trillion won) in support to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.

On the first day of the G7 summit held on the 13th (local time) in Puglia, Italy, the G7 leaders discussed plans to expand support for Ukraine.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated after the meeting, "We have agreed to provide approximately $50 billion in additional financial support to Ukraine by the end of the year in the form of loans, utilizing the income generated from frozen Russian assets under our jurisdiction."

Prime Minister Meloni explained that the confiscation of frozen Russian assets was not on the agenda.

Earlier, G7 member countries, the European Union (EU), and Australia froze $282 billion (approximately 389 trillion won) of foreign currency reserves held by the Russian central bank, which had been held by their institutions since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Initially, the United States proposed confiscating the frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, but European countries expressed reluctance due to legal concerns, leading to a shift toward supporting Ukraine using interest income generated from the frozen assets as collateral. In this regard, the EU had already decided last month to use approximately 3 billion euros (about 4.45 trillion won) annually generated from frozen Russian assets within the region for military support to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally attended the special session on Ukraine held that afternoon.

Russia immediately opposed the G7 agreement.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said, "The West's attempt to profit from frozen Russian assets is a crime," adding, "The Russian government plans to respond, and this will be very painful for the EU."