Leaders
of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies have agreed to engineer a $50 billion
loan to help Ukraine in its fight for survival that would use interest
earned on profits from Russia’s frozen central bank assets as collateral.
Details of the deal
were still being hashed out as G7 leaders gathered for a summit in Italy, but the money could reach Kyiv before the
end of the year. That's according to a French official who confirmed the
agreement Wednesday ahead of a formal announcement at the summit. Here's how
the plan would work:
Most of the money would be provided in the form of a loan from the U.S.
government that would
be backed by windfall profits being earned on roughly $300 billion in
immobilized Russian assets. The vast majority of the money is being held in
European Union nations. A French
official said that while the loan would be mostly U.S.-guaranteed, it could be
“topped up” with European money or other national contributions.