Before the Apulia G7 final joint statement was officially published late today, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was hosting the G7 summit, went to the media to announce the deal reached on the use of frozen Russian assets. Her description of elements of the deal, however, was so contradictory, that it raises questions on whether she lied or whether the more radical U.S. demands did not get through.
Meloni said: “We have reached a political agreement to provide additional financial support to Ukraine of about $50 billion by the end of the year through a loan mechanism for the repayment of which the extra profits from Russian assets tied up in our jurisdictions can be used. We are clearly not talking about a confiscation of these assets but the interest that accrues over time. Understand well, that today’s is a fundamental political step that will now have to be quickly defined from a technical point of view, clearly taking into account the framework already adopted at the European Union level.”