Washington secures $20 billion G7 loan for Ukraine
Washington has agreed to provide up to 20 billion dollars as part of a G7 loan for Ukraine, to be repaid from revenues generated by frozen Russian assets, reports the Financial Times.
Western officials are eager to unlock funding for Kyiv before the end of the year, according to Ukrainska Pravda. They are aware that if Donald Trump wins the American presidential election in November, future American aid to Ukraine may be interrupted. The Group of Seven (G7) has been engaged in months of discussions regarding the 50 billion USD loan framework established in June.
Recently, it appeared that Washington's contribution might be smaller than initially expected due to the EU's inability to guarantee that Russian assets would remain frozen for at least three years. However, on Friday, American officials informed their G7 counterparts that Washington would provide the entire initial amount—approximately 20 billion dollars.
They indicated that this would be feasible even if the EU fails to persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to withdraw his veto on the extension of EU sanctions, a condition set by Washington. The G7 finance ministers are expected to meet in Washington on October 25 during the IMF and World Bank meetings and will issue a statement regarding the allocation and structure of the loan, sources familiar with the matter have stated.
A source familiar with the negotiations noted that a final agreement has not yet been reached, as the US continues to discuss the repayment details with members of Congress and Ukraine. Last week, the EU approved its contribution of up to 35 billion EUR to the G7 loan.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
