United to win: Britain to pledge $300 mln for Ukraine at G7 summit
Photo: Associated Press
At the G7 summit in Italy, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce the allocation of aid to Ukraine in the amount of 242 million pounds sterling (approximately 309 million dollars).
The British government reports this on its website.
"At the summit, the Prime Minister will announce the allocation of up to 242 million pounds of aid to Ukraine to meet urgent humanitarian, energy, and stabilization needs, as well as to lay the foundation for long-term socio-economic recovery and reconstruction," said.
The government emphasizes that:
"This funding demonstrates the UK's continued international solidarity with Ukraine and our flexibility in responding to the urgent needs caused by Russian aggression."
In particular, Britain draws attention to the fact that "critically important energy infrastructure has been affected by intense Russian missile strikes and bombings over the past few months."
The press service emphasized that the prime minister's priority at the summit will be to work with partners on agreeing on the method of using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
It is emphasized that the value of assets in G7 jurisdictions is 285 billion dollars.
It is also reported that Great Britain has become the first country to introduce legislation that allows sanctions to remain in place until Russia pays for the damage it has caused.
"We must be decisive and creative in our efforts to support Ukraine and end Putin's illegal war at this critical moment. The UK remains at the forefront of the international response, as it has been from the beginning. We must move from 'as much as it takes' to "whatever it costs" if we want to put an end to this illegal war," Sunak said.
A government official recalled that the UK has provided almost £12.7 billion in military, humanitarian, and economic support to Ukraine and has often been the first to offer vital lethal aid, from Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Challenger 2 tanks.
Zelensky appoints former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's armed forces Zaluzhnyi as new Ukrainian ambassador to Great Britain
For reference:
The 50th anniversary G7 summit in Italy starts today, June 13. Support for Ukraine will be one of the key topics of the three-day meeting. In particular, the adoption of the issue regarding the use of frozen Russian Federation assets is expected.
One of the plans proposed by the USA provides for the allocation of a loan to Ukraine for 50 billion dollars secured by Russian assets.
The program of the summit in Italy includes 6 working sessions on the following topics:
- dialogue with Africa, climate change and development;
- Middle East;
- Ukraine;
- Migration;
- Indo-Pacific and economic security;
- a session with invited states and international organizations on Africa, the Mediterranean, artificial intelligence, and energy.
The leaders of the G7 countries and governments, the EU leadership, and invited guests will attend the summit in Italy.
Main participants:
- Prime Minister of Italy and the head of this year's meeting – Giorgia Meloni;
- President of France – Emmanuel Macron;
- Chancellor of Germany – Olaf Scholz;
- Prime Minister of Great Britain – Rishi Sunak;
- Prime Minister of Canada – Justin Trudeau;
- US President – Joe Biden;
- Prime Minister of Japan – Fumio Kishida;
- heads of the European Union – Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen.
As noted on the official G7 portal, the summit will take place at a particularly difficult time in the international arena.
As reported, on June 13, the United States and Ukraine will sign a bilateral agreement on security guarantees on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy. The agreement with the USA will be Ukraine's 15th security agreement with its allies.
It is worth mentioning that on July 12, 2023, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, the leaders of the G7 countries agreed on a Joint Declaration on support for Ukraine. The document discussed, in particular, the work on specific bilateral long-term obligations and agreements in the field of security.
