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Two weeks after President Biden reversed himself and approved firing American weapons into Russian territory, he and his closest allies are preparing a different kind of assault, using the proceeds from Russia\u2019s own financial assets to aid the reconstruction of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
For two years, the world\u2019s largest Western economies have debated how to deal with $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, which the Kremlin left in Western financial institutions after the Ukraine invasion began in 2022.<\/p>\n
Now, after long debates about whether the West could legally turn those assets over to the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, the allies seem on the brink of a compromise, to be announced at the Group of 7 summit in Italy.<\/p>\n
The Group of 7, which comprises the world\u2019s wealthiest large democracies, is about to agree to a loan to Ukraine of roughly $50 billion to rebuild the country\u2019s devastated infrastructure, with the understanding that it will be paid back by interest earned on the frozen Russian assets, Western officials said. But even that amount, experts say, would only begin to make a dent in building a new Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The financing announcement will be only a part of a summit this week that will range from how to reverse Russia\u2019s new momentum to how to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky will meet on Thursday and sign a security agreement, said Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden\u2019s national security adviser.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to demonstrate that the U.S. supports the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them, and that will continue to help address their security needs, not just tomorrow, but out into the future,\u201d Mr. Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Italy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy signing this, we\u2019ll also be sending Russia a signal of our resolve,\u201d he added. \u201cIf Vladimir Putin thinks that he can outlast the coalition supporting Ukraine, he\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be moments during the summit when the leaders will try to lift their eyes beyond the current crises, including a meeting between the leaders and Pope Francis, focused on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
The loan deal, combined with a raft of new sanctions<\/a> aimed at countering China\u2019s effort to remake Russia\u2019s defense industrial base, are part of the latest efforts to bolster Ukraine and hobble Russia at a perilous moment in the 27-month old conflict.<\/p>\n Still, Europe is bracing for the possibility that former President Donald J. Trump, who has spoken openly of pulling out of NATO, could be back in power by the time the group next meets, in 2025. And several of the leaders present \u2014 including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain and President Emmanuel Macron of France \u2014 are facing elections that could redefine Europe.<\/p>\n Mr. Biden faces the hurdle of convincing his allies, starting with Mr. Zelensky, that the United States plans to stay in the fight with Ukraine, no matter what happens in November. The extensive delays this spring in getting congressional passage of the $61 billion in new ammunition and air defenses, Mr. Biden\u2019s aides acknowledge, cost Ukraine lives, territory and tactical military advantage.<\/p>\n Mr. Biden told Mr. Zelensky last week, in France, that \u201cI apologize for the weeks of not knowing what was going to pass,\u201d and put the onus on Republicans in Congress. \u201cSome of our very conservative members were holding it up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But the scope of the opposition in Congress also raised the question of whether that last injection of a sizable military package could be the last, and threatens Mr. Biden\u2019s claim as the Western leader who rallied the rest of the allies to fend off further assaults by President Vladimir V. Putin.<\/p>\n Now, with the war at a critical moment, the Group of 7 leaders seem poised to end months of deliberations over how to use the $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets, which were largely kept in European financial institutions. The idea is to provide an infusion of economic aid to Ukraine.<\/p>\n