Traditionally, G7 summits have been all about words and promises with minimum specifics. And the latest "sitdown" was no exception here.
The only specific result of the venue in southern Italy has reflected the most urgent policy direction for the West in its confrontation with Russia. The participants ruled to use the interest from frozen — for which read stolen — Russian assets to provide Ukraine with $50bn in loans and thus help Kiev proceed with its struggle against the Russian “invasion”, while also demonstrating Western resolve to Moscow.
G7 leaders — Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — agreed on this plan along with senior officials in the European Union, which is home to most frozen Russian assets worth some $300bn.
Western media write that "the deal capped months of intense negotiations, and came after Washington's initial push to seize the assets themselves ran into strong opposition from European countries." The decision’s purpose is that it can safely act for years, regardless of who leads each of G7 member states. And the latter will be spared unnecessary expenses out of their own pockets to maintain the Kiev regime. Truth be told, no one says how much more it is going to endure, but the Western-outlined idea is really designed for years to come, as if the entire thing never ends.
What is the mechanics of "credit granting" to Ukraine? Participants in the G7 summit decided that their loans totaling $50bn "will be provided with" future interest from Russia’s frozen assets, or "due to reparations from Russia." To put a finer point on it, this refers to about $281bn (€260bn). These, in particular, are reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation that were frozen amid sanctions imposed over our country’s special military operation in Ukraine. Of those, some €190bn are kept at EuroClear, the Belgian Central Securities Depository (CSD). This makes the EU a key player in this predatory plan. The United States owns about $5bn in this kind of assets. According to Reuters citing "officials", the EU countries will be able to "call upon some €2.5bn to €3.5bn in interest every year from the assets to repay the loans" for Ukraine.
Russia regards the West’s attempts to appropriate income from its frozen assets as maleficent. A statement to that effect came from Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. She said Moscow’s response would be “truly painful” to the European Union after all.
Another noticeable anti-Russian escapade at the G7 summit, though much vaguer, was the long-term "security agreement" signed between President Biden and Ukraine’s "expired" leader Zelensky. This has been sort of a substitute to Kiev’s promised NATO membership. The point is that NATO does not see Ukraine in its ranks for one simple reason: the United States and most of the alliance are uncomfortable about a direct armed conflict with Russia as stipulated by Article 5 of NATO’s Charter on the collective protection of any member state if attacked. This gave rise to signing such "security agreements" with Ukraine by individual countries of the alliance. But those do not oblige the United States or other NATO countries to take active action in Ukraine, though. This is mere declaration as part of information verbiage on Western support to Ukraine.
To what extent are such escapades able to affect Russia?
Right as US President Joe Biden is capable, and in Italy he demonstrated more manifestations of senile decay, creating a rather depressing background for the summit. Moreover, like in the course of recent celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, Biden’s folly has obscured the essence of current developments in all the Western media reports.
With reference to a diplomatic insider, America’s New York Post writes that Biden "lost his focus" throughout discussions at the G7 summit. The insider said President Biden is "worse he’s ever been." “The president has stolen the spotlight with a series of bizarre actions, including giving Meloni an awkward salute upon greeting her Thursday and wandering away from his fellow leaders during a skydiving demonstration, forcing the host prime minister to chaperone him back to the group,” the newspaper notes.
“Biden apparently got off on the wrong foot with Meloni before the summit even began Thursday morning, keeping the Italian prime minister waiting 20 minutes before arriving,” the NYP cites Italian public broadcaster RAI. “When the president did appear, Meloni reportedly chided him in an apparent attempt at humor, telling Biden: ‘You shouldn’t leave a woman waiting like this.’”
Britain’s The Sun, whether it be mockery or justification, said the US president "had shown moments of clarity while discussing urgent matters" with participants in the summit. At all other times, the meeting presumably saw him mind-wandering.
But the trouble of the West is that “lame ducks” — low-rated European leaders, who either lost their latest elections, or are forecast to in the nearest future — have nothing to place their hopes on rather that American leadership, with Biden being its present-day symbol.
Meanwhile, “self-propelled Joe’s” chances in the upcoming US presidential election are melting before our eyes. The ostentatious solidarity and unity of opinion among the Western leaders may yield him a couple extra votes, indeed. And for this kind of purpose, sharing someone else’s — in this case, Russian — money is no crime to them. And yet, decisions by G7 do smell like hopelessness. Whether it be Trump or nature itself, a formidable surprise seems looming over the Western leaders, while the world has been observing the entire fuss with a hardly unveiled grin.
