The G7 opens this Thursday in Italy with Ukraine and Gaza on the agenda

This year it is being held in Puglia, in Fasano, in a luxury hotel complex which will be the most monitored place on the planet until Saturday.

The summit comes at a particularly difficult time on the international scene. Besides the discussions on the war in Ukraine and the conflict Middle Eastthe Italian presidency will also emphasize the Mediterranean and theAfricaas well as on the climate change.

A special session on the regulation ofartificial intelligence will see him Pope Francis express yourself on the subject.

50 billion released for Kyiv?

President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a bilateral security agreement between the United States and Ukraine on Thursday when they meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy, as the group’s negotiators reached an agreement on how to provide Ukraine with up to $50 billion guaranteed by frozen Russian assets.

The international group of wealthy democracies discussed ways to use the more than $260 billion in Russian assets frozen outside the country after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine to help kyiv.

European officials opposed the confiscation of these assets, citing legal and financial stability problems — most of the frozen assets are located in Europe, — but the plan plans to use the interest generated by these assets to contribute to Ukraine’s war effort. An official from the French presidency confirmed the deal on Wednesdayspecifying that the Most of the money would go to Ukraine in the form of a US government loan guaranteed by the proceeds of Russian assets frozen in the European Union. Two other people familiar with the matter confirmed the deal.

Final technical negotiations were underway before the summit to finalize the legal terms of the agreement.

Separately, at the summit, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce £242 million in aid for Ukraine, according to a government statement.

Other countries invited

The G7 members, United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom, will be joined by the presidents of the European Council, Charles Michel and of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

As is tradition, representatives of other States and international organizations will also participate in the work.

This is the case of King Abdullah II of Jordan, Argentina, Turkey, Kenya, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania.

Countries like India, Brazil and South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates, which are an integral part of the alliance of BRICSalong with Russia, were invited to this summit.