Brindisi, Italy 13.06.2024 The assembly of Seven leaders have reached an informal agreement to loan money to Ukraine backed by the profits from frozen Russian assets, the U.S .  unnamed official confirmed to CNN channel.

“There was shared recognition here in Puglia by every G7 member that the situation on the battlefield remains difficult, and that if the war continues, Ukraine is still going to have a large financial need next year and beyond, and that this summit is our best chance to act collectively to close the gap,” the senior unnamed official said to the channel.

The official also indicated that it is a right policy towards the Western tax-payer: “only fair that we close the gap by making Russia pay, not our taxpayers, and we found a way to do so that respects the rule of law in every jurisdiction.”

The unformal agreement is the result of years of negotiations complicated by laws, protecting investments, and bankers, fearing the precedent would harm the investor’s trusts irreversibly, causing capitals to flee.

However, in spite of this unformal decision, it will take time before the Ukrainian government will receive these funds, but the the unnamed US official said the effort would “move with urgency” and the commitment remains “to be ready to disperse $50 billion this calendar year.”

In case the loan is dispersed by the end of 2024, it would ensure the funds would reach Ukraine before a potential change party at power in the White House.

“The next steps are to enshrine the communiqué commitments with the EU 27, the full membership, then we need to write contracts between the lenders … the recipient, which is Ukraine, and the intermediaries,” the official said.

From there, there will be an agreement on a dispersal schedule.

Meanwhile the European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde opposes the expropriation of the Russian assets, warning about the long term negative consequences of the decision:
“Moving from freezing the assets to confiscating the assets, disposing of them, is something that needs to be looked at very carefully,” Lagarde said, because it would “start breaking the international legal order that you want to protect, that you would want Russia and all countries around the world to respect.”