Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations began a two-day meeting in Italy on Friday, aiming to reach a unified position on providing a loan to Ukraine and addressing China's "unfair" industrial policies. Statements from officials prior to the summit in Stresa, northern Italy, indicated that details of a U.S. proposal to provide a loan to Ukraine, funded by revenues from approximately $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, would not be disclosed.
French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stated before the opening session, "We will present a proposal to use the unexpected profits from Russian assets in the coming years." He added, "So let us compare the proposals. Let's see which proposal is the most suitable, the most efficient, and the fastest to implement."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned that "the loan could be around $50 billion, but no specific amounts have been agreed upon." Other officials in the G7 participating in the negotiations expressed caution, highlighting complex legal and technical aspects that need to be addressed. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner pointed out that "there are many questions regarding the loan proposal, and it is expected that no concrete decisions will be reached in Stresa."
Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko, whose country has been battling ongoing Russian aggression for over two years, will join the officials on Saturday.
