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G7 leaders are gathering for the first day the summit, hosted by Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and are seeking to seal a deal on using frozen Russian assets to help war-torn Ukraine.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will join US President Joe Biden and leaders from Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan at the luxury Borgo Egnazia resort in Puglia.
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The leaders are hoping to agree on a $50bn loan for Kyiv, secured against the future profits from interest on 300bn euros ($325bn) of Russian central bank assets frozen after the February 2022 invasion, reports Agence France-Presse.
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The European Union – where most of the funds are being held – agreed earlier this year to use the profits for Ukraine.
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But the idea at the G7 is to use this to provide more, faster help in the form of a massive upfront loan – although key questions such as who issues the debt and who shares the risk are still being hammered out.
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The G7 summit opens Thursday morning with a short session on Africa, development and climate change, before turning to the Middle East.
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The leaders have already announced their support for a Gaza truce deal outlined by Biden, which would also see the release of hostages taken in Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.
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The G7 comprises the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Britain. Russia was suspended from the then-styled G8 indefinitely from 2014 after it unilaterally annexed Crimea.
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The European Union participates in all discussions and is represented by the presidents of both the European Council and the European Commission.
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The host country traditionally invites outside guests to join some of the sessions. Among those invited are Pope Francis, the King of Jordan as well as the leaders of Ukraine, India, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania, which holds the presidency of the African Union.
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More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
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A dramatic expansion of entities exposed to US sanctions for helping the Russian economy will also be at the centre of discussions.
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The meeting is being billed by the US state department as an opportunity to send a message to Russia of western stamina; the G7 would also like to “Trump-proof” its decisions as much as possible ahead of the US election in November.
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The British prime minister Rishi Sunak will announce up to 242m pounds ($309.69m) in bilateral assistance to Ukraine in the G7 summit, his office said on Wednesday, to support immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs for Ukraine. “We must be decisive and creative in our efforts to support Ukraine and end Putin’s illegal war at this critical moment,” Sunak said ahead of the summit.
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The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has apologised for not attending the G7 Summit in Italy according to the state news agency. Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he had held “productive and energetic” talks with the Crown Prince focusing on this week’s “Peace Summit” in Switzerland and improving bilateral ties.
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On the first evening, the leaders will attend a dinner in their honour in the nearby city of Brindisi. The media centre is in the city of Bari, 80 km (50 miles) from the summit venue.
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The Borgo Egnazia resort, where the summit is being held, Angela Giuffrida writes, is frequented by celebrities such as Madonna and David Beckham: “With its stone villas, replete with almond-filled baskets, and narrow, winding alleys, the resort, which opened in 2010, is modelled on an ancient Puglian village … However, one detail of history the brochures fail to mention is that the land on which the resort stands was razed during Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule to build an airbase.”
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China will be discussed at length, reports Reuters. The leaders are likely to issue a statement expressing concern on Chinese industrial overcapacity, particularly in green energy and technology sectors such as solar panels and electric vehicles.
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The US, EU and Japan have all voiced concern that generous subsidies from Beijing are resulting in a flood of cheap goods hitting the global market, threatening western firms, and will also look at the possibility of imposing additional measures to level the field with heavily subsidised Chinese companies.
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The G7 leaders are likely to express their resolve in addressing the heavy debt burden faced by many emerging market and developing countries, says Reuters, but it is not clear what this commitment will mean in real terms.
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Italy is still pushing for an accord on a global minimum tax on multinationals, even if it said last month that a deal would not be finalised by June as previously planned.
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Many G7 countries are also in political flux, reports Agence France-Presse. Everyone in Puglia is aware this could be Biden’s last G7 summit if he loses to Donald Trump in November US elections. Britain’s Rishi Sunak is tipped to be ousted in July 4 elections, while France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz are both under pressure after gains by the far right in EU elections last weekend.
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Important Events
International efforts to release the value of Russian assets frozen for financial aid to Ukraine are progressing well, Reuters reported. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan “We hope that an agreement can be reached by the time G7 leaders meet,” he said on Thursday, adding that he hoped there would be an agreement.
He said G7 leaders were more united than ever on key issues, including China’s industrial overcapacity.
Angela Giuffreda
Angela Giuffrida in Rome prepared us for the event by telling us what it means for Giorgia Meloni.
When Giorgia Meloni met with Joe Biden at the White House in March, he played Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” as she walked into the room. “We have each other’s backs,” he later told reporters, before tenderly kissing her on the forehead at the end of the meeting.
The harmonious meeting was the clearest sign yet that the Italian prime minister, a master of chameleon-like communication, has managed to forge a warm relationship with a U.S. president who has previously expressed concerns about the neo-fascist history of her Italian Brothers party.
The two men will meet under the olive trees of a remote resort in the southern Italian region of Puglia on Thursday, when Italy hosts the G7 summit at a time when Europe is reeling from the far-right’s success in European elections. Meloni hopes to use the event to bolster his image on the international stage, despite criticism at home for his tough stance on a host of issues.
Read the rest of Angela Giuffrida’s article here: “All eyes are on her”: Italy’s far-right chameleon Giorgia Meloni prepares to host the G7
Giorgia MeloniIn a promotional video, the Italian prime minister outlined his country’s goals for this year as it holds the G7 presidency and hosts the summit.
In it, she said the G7 “has an irreplaceable role to play in safeguarding freedom and democracy and addressing global challenges.”
She continued:
Italy has taken on this historical responsibility at a particularly complex time: Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine challenges the international system based on the rule of law, and the violation of these principles that unite the international community is sparking conflicts in various parts of the world.
We reiterate our support for Ukraine and will continue to work to end the war and achieve a just and lasting peace, as well as the conflict in the Middle East and other crises on our agenda this year.
We will place a strong emphasis on our relations with developing and emerging economies, with particular attention to Africa. We reject predatory approaches and have the goal of building an equal model of cooperation that can benefit all. That is why we will also pay close attention to migration issues, the climate-energy nexus, and food security.
The Italian Presidency will also focus on Artificial Intelligence, which many consider to be the most defining challenge of our time. This technology has the potential to generate great opportunities, but also great risks, affecting the global balance. We are committed to developing governance mechanisms to ensure that Artificial Intelligence is human-centred and human-controlled.
We would like to introduce to you the press center set up for the G7 Summit. Bari.
The agenda for today’s summit includes the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Giorgia Meloni There will be greetings from delegation leaders at 10:30am local time (9:30am BST / 4:30am EDT), followed by the traditional opening family photograph with the delegation leaders.
Discussion sessions scheduled for today include:
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Africa, Climate Change and Development
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Middle East (with working lunch)
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Ukraine (G7 + Ukraine format)
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Ukraine (G7 format)
The evening will also feature a flag-raising ceremony and photo opportunity.
Tomorrow’s session will feature discussions on migration, AI, energy, and the Indo-Pacific and economic security.
Welcome and Opening Summary
It’s 9am in Borgo Egnazia, Puglia, southern Italy. Welcome to our live coverage of this year’s G7 Summit. I’m Martin Bellam. Please join me for a moment.
G7 The leaders were meeting on the first day of a summit hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as they try to hammer out a deal to use frozen Russian assets to help war-torn Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky Join the US President Joe Biden And the leaders Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Japan In Borgo Egnazia, a luxury resort in Puglia.
The leaders hope to agree on a $50 billion loan. KyivThe pledge is backed by future interest earnings on 300 billion euros ($325 billion) of Russian central bank assets frozen after the February 2022 invasion, AFP reported.
of european union The company, where most of the funds are kept, announced profits earlier this year. Ukraine.
But the G7’s idea is to use this to provide more and faster aid in the form of big upfront loans, although key questions like who will issue the debt and who will share the risk are still being worked out.
of G7 The summit began on Thursday morning with a short session on Africa, development and climate change, followed by middle east.
The leaders have already Gaza The ceasefire agreement outlined by Biden also includes the release of hostages held in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The G7 America, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and United KingdomRussia was indefinitely suspended from the G8 in 2014 after unilaterally annexing Crimea.
of european union They will participate in all discussions and will be represented by the Presidents of both countries. European Council And that European Commission.
The host country traditionally invites external guests to some sessions. Among the guests invited are: Pope Francis, King of Jordan Similarly, the leaders of Ukraine, India, Brazil, Argentina, turkey, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Algeria, Tunisia and MauritaniaChair of African Union.
We’ll go into more detail on this later, but first let’s provide an overview of the latest developments.
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Discussions will also center on the dramatic expansion of entities subject to U.S. sanctions for supporting the Russian economy..
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The State Department is viewing the meeting as an opportunity to send a message to Russia of Western resilience.The G7 wants to make decisions as “Trump-free” as possible ahead of the US elections in November.
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British Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce up to 242 million pounds ($309.69 million) in bilateral aid for Ukraine at the G7 summit, Downing Street said on Wednesday.for urgent humanitarian, energy and stabilisation assistance to Ukraine. “We must work decisively and creatively to support Ukraine at this critical time and end Putin’s illegal war,” Sunak said ahead of the summit.
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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has apologised for not attending the G7 summit. Zelenskiy said he had held “productive and energetic” talks with Russia on Wednesday in Italy, according to the state news agency. Crown prince We will focus on the “Peace Summit” being held in Switzerland this week and strive to improve bilateral relations.
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On the first evening, the leaders are due to attend a dinner in the nearby city of Brindisi.The media centre is located in the city of Bari, 80km (50 miles) from the summit site.
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Angela Giuffrida said the Borgo Egnasia resort where the summit will be held is frequented by celebrities such as Madonna and David Beckham. “With its stone villas topped with baskets of almonds and narrow, winding alleys, the resort opened in 2010 and is modelled on the ancient villages of Puglia. But the brochure says the land on which it stands is Destroyed under Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime To build an air force base.”
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China will be discussed at length, with leaders expected to issue a statement expressing concern about Chinese industrial overcapacity, according to Reuters. This is especially evident in the green energy and technology sectors, such as solar panels and electric vehicles.
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The United States, the European Union and Japan have all expressed concern that heavy subsidies from Beijing are flooding global markets with cheap goods.They are a threat to Western companies, and the government will also consider taking further steps to ensure that they can compete on an equal footing with heavily subsidized Chinese companies.
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G7 leaders are likely to signal their determination to address the heavy debt burdens facing many emerging market and developing economies.“The agreement will be finalized in 2021,” Reuters reported, but it’s unclear what this promise actually means.
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Italy still pushing for a global minimum tax deal for multinationalsEven though he said last month that a deal would not be reached by June as originally planned.
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Many G7 nations are also facing political uncertainty, AFP reports.Everyone in Puglia knows this Biden’s If we lose the last G7 summit Donald Trump In the November US elections, the UK Rishi Sunak He is expected to lose in the July 4 elections, while France Emmanuel Macron And Germany Olaf Scholz Both parties are under pressure following the far-right’s gains in last weekend’s European Parliament elections.
