G7 leaders agreed Thursday on a new $50 billion loan for Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian assets, a move Joe Biden said showed Moscow "we're not backing down". The US president and other G7 leaders agreed at a summit in Italy to use the profits from the interest on the assets to back the loan to provide help this year to Kyiv as it struggles in its third year of war with Russia. Summit host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the "political agreement" after the first day of the Puglia talks, saying it was a hard-fought but "fundamental" step. Meloni invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to join a special session on the Ukraine war alongside the leaders of Germany, France, Canada, Britain and Japan. At a joint press conference with the Ukrainian leader afterwards, Biden said the deal emphasised to Russian President Vladimir Putin the long-term commitment of Kyiv's allies.

With it, the G7 leaders "collectively show Putin he cannot wait us out, he cannot divide us", he said. Addressing leaders earlier at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort, Zelensky said the loan was a "vital step forward in providing sustainable support for Ukraine in winning this war". He said it would go towards "both defence and reconstruction". But he said Ukrainian forces still needed more air-defence systems to help counter attacks by Moscow, which has been pummelling Kyiv's front-line troops and the country's power grid.

The EU agreed earlier this year to help Kyiv by using the profits from the interest on Russian central bank assets frozen by Western allies -- the majority of them held in the bloc. But Washington has been pushing for more and faster help through a huge upfront loan. A senior Biden administration official said the United States was willing to provide up to $50 billion, but said its contribution could be "significantly less" as it would be a shared initiative.

"We will not be the only lenders. This will be a loan syndicate. We're going to share the risk, because we have a shared commitment to get this done," the official said on condition of anonymity. He would not say how much other G7 countries would contribute, nor did any other leaders on Thursday.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)