Putin to face boosted Ukrainian war effort after G7 agrees to lend billions of his own money

Putin to face boosted Ukrainian war effort after G7 agrees to lend billions of his own money

what we’re probably going to see unveiled is a plan to try and uh unlock some of the interest that has been acred on0 and something billion dollars worth of Russian assets that’s been frozen from entities and people whove been sanctioned to try and use it to give a $50 billion loan to uh Ukraine to try and help that country to rebuild itself and help it with the war effort obviously after the efforts of Joe Biden to try and get a 60-some billion dollar plan through Congress were much delayed and as a result that’s stalls the famous uh Ukrainian attempt to you know fight back against Russia uh and that is one of the things on the agenda but they’re not all on the same page these countries on whether or not that’s a good idea it’s a big dat in global politics as well the G7 is taking place in quite a hot pulia but is this the weakest G7 in its 50-year history with the exception of Georgia Maloney uh the Italian leader and host the other leaders seem to be on the brink of defeat exhaustion or both RI sux facing a defeat here quite possibly president macron may lose his sudden snap election Joe Biden’s son has been convicted in a criminal court Germany’s chancellor has the most unpopular government in this country’s modern in his country’s modern history and the prime minister of Canada is talking about quitting and Japan’s president is polling at a record low well let’s talk about all of that with Nina DeSantis journalist and former Europe editor for CNN uh very good afternoon from us Nina when you read out that list it is quite astonishing uh how gloomy might this G7 be yes and detached from average electorates priorities right that’s the problem isn’t it all of these leaders in these countries are facing the price perhaps of having focused too much some might say on foreign policy and not a cohesive set of domestic affairs that’s certainly the situation that Emanuel macron is facing in France at the moment and others like in since Joe Biden have managed to boost the economy in their country but aren’t getting much credit for it what is sapping all the energy among the electorate is sort of foreign policy and big issues like for instance Ukraine and also what’s happening in the Middle East and this G7 forum is the very format at which seven of the world’s richest countries leaders get together to talk about these things but as you quite rightfully pointing out it has declined in renovent enormously back in the 1970s these seven most industrialized countries had about 70% of the world’s economy now it’s just a fraction of that and frankly the format of G7 Gatherings that happen only once a year um really is a format for informal discussions afterwards they come out with a draft communic but it’s to steer policy in One Direction rather than to make any strong commitments is it more important this time around and last year though because of the situation in Ukraine because things are talked about at uh G7 uh that then do turn into action that’s right and you also have a number of other leaders that these countries can invite who aren’t part of the G7 and that’s exactly what they’ve done so Vladimir zalinsky the president of Ukraine is the big guest this year he’s going to be having a joint news conference with Joe Biden during which what we’re probably going to see unveiled is a plan to try and uh unlock some of the interest that has been acred on0 and something billion dollars worth of Russian assets that’s been frozen from entities and people who’ve been sanctioned to try and use it to give a $50 billion loan to uh Ukraine to try and help that country to rebuild itself and help it with the war effort obviously after the efforts of Joe Biden to try and get a 60 something billion dollar plann through Congress were much delayed and as a result that stalls the famous uh Ukrainian attempt to you know fight back against Russia uh and that is one of the things on the agenda but they’re not all on the same page these countries on whether or not that’s a good idea that’s a very dangerous precedent some Nations like for instance France and Italy and the UK might feel because there’s large amounts of foreign Capital that come to these countries and that’s a vital part of the economy and if you’re seeing these assets be frozen then unlocked and given to another country to help with its uh you know its war effort and to rebuild itself but then those you know assets then find themselves the subject of litigation that’s an uncomfortable position for some countries to be in but as I was saying before the G7 is essentially a talking shop uh to make promises and pledges rather than actually nail down concrete policy commitments right is it quite a dangerous time and I don’t know whether that’s the right word and do replace it if it’s not for Georgia Maloney to look superb and Powerful with alert to the right going on in Europe that some of those attendees are going to be the victims of they will but she has very deftly played her political position you were talking earlier on in your show I noticed about Margaret Thatcher now look it may be that Georgia Maloney the first female prime minister of Italy even though she is from the right of the political spectrum and some outside of Italy might say indeed espouses some far-right ideas she is playing her political cards um very very astutely here what she’s managed to do here is essentially Market herself as a trans atlanticist to people like Joe Biden and those other G7 leaders somebody they can rely upon for Europe security she’s pro- NATO she’s pro- helping Ukraine um but on the other hand she’s also marketed herself to her domestic politics and domestic constituency as somebody who is further to the right somebody who is going to tackle issues like migration and take this tough talk hard on and she’s also done something very very clever at this particular G7 Summit she’s trying to use it to Pivot Italy towards a crucial point for access to energy markets to Africa now this is important because countries like Russia as I was saying before um you know no longer part of big gatherings like these I remember I was a correspondent in Italy 15 years ago and I used to have to cover Vladimir Putin’s Presence at the G8 Summits there in Italy he’s obviously persona non grat now but um it but Russia is pivoting away from Big Western countries like this thanks to the sanctions regime they are trading a lot more with Africa they’re trading a lot more with countries like India and Saudi Arabia India indeed has been invited to this G7 as well and so Georgia Malone’s very cleverly invited a huge amount of Emerging Market players and she’s trying to position Italy as that sort of transition point to keep Africa on board to keep other countries on board to keep her electorate on board and also to keep um you know the transatlantic relationships and defense issues on board as well very clever how would you describe her current relationship with Rishi sunak and they have appeared to be pretty close in the past yeah well I think that they have this shared passion for tackling migration and migration is particularly an acute issue for Italy especially when it comes to people coming across the seas from North Africa towards the island of lampedusa so they have their own small boat problem that has been extremely dramatic for many many years I’ve covered some of these Landings and it is really really tragic to see um and now obviously this post brexit is a big problem for the United Kingdom and she’s managed to forge this alliance with Richie sunak over this very specific issue she’s also managed to copy and Implement some of his policies much quicker for instance the Rwanda uh deal over sending Asylum Seekers to Rwanda to have their applications for Asylum processed over there that’s been much styed and thed by the courts over here well Italy has this agreement with Albania uh where they’re going to do the same and indeed that is further along the line there and she’s managed to negotiate uh that in a far more discreet manner without all the big uproar so they have this sort of shared interest over tackling migration but you could potentially argue that she’s been a lot more Nimble in how she’s managed to sell that argument and actually implement it so far yeah I me she is quite a remarkable politician isn’t she uh whichever the side of the fence you come down on with her policies uh have you ever been to the resort Nina it’s quite something isn’t it I’ve not been there myself just looked at the pictures 5,000 a night I haven’t actually I have been to the other Resorts where some of these other big Summits have taken place like for instance tmina I think that’s famous but White Lotus Watchers maybe I’ve been to some of those others but this one I admit freely I have not been to in Pia um I’m a bit jealous if I confessing London and I got Brussels too two days ago and that was you know typically Belgian weather but uh look I’d take it even if it’s it’s obviously hot and climate change by the way is one of the things they’re going to be talking about as we speak as they sit down after their lunch break y lovely Borgen Vila you probably didn’t get that in Brussels lovely to talk to you super staff thank you very much that’s Nina Des Santos journalist and former Europe editor for CNN I mean I know it’s not the biggest point of the day but there is a real split in the weather isn’t it parts of Europe are absolutely raging in heat yeah and we’re having the wetest June for a very long time yeah I nearly put the heating on last night but I I drew back at the last minute you just put your jumper on instead I did indeed and a vest

“What we’re probably going to see unveiled is a plan to try and unlock some of the interest that has been accrued on Russian assets.”

The G7 is expected to green light funding the Ukraine war effort using interest on Russian assets, but not all countries are “on the same page,” says Nina dos Santos.

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