Putin accuses G7 of “theft” – and demands that Kyiv withdraw from four regions
West provides Ukraine with a loan of around 50 billion dollars
The West is providing Ukraine with a loan of around 50 billion dollars to buy weapons and to kick-start the country’s reconstruction. The G-7 countries agreed on a corresponding plan at their summit in southern Italy. WELT reporter Max Hermes reports from Fasano.
The Russian president criticizes the use of frozen Russian assets abroad as “theft.” Putin also formulates conditions for the start of negotiations: Ukraine must withdraw from four regions and abandon its plans to join NATO.
RUS President Vladimir Putin has described the freezing of Russian assets abroad and their use to support Ukraine as “theft”.
Western states are trying to find “some kind of legal basis,” the Kremlin chief told senior Russian Foreign Ministry officials on Friday. “But despite all the whitewashing, theft is still theft and will not go unpunished.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the G7’s actions “another criminal, cynical violation of international law.” The G7 is stealing Russian money to finance “the military adventures of the Kiev regime and its patrons.”
The heads of state and government of the seven major industrial nations agreed the day before on a loan of 50 billion dollars (a good 46 billion euros) for Ukraine, which is to be financed from frozen Russian assets. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) welcomed the agreement on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in southern Italy as “historic”.
Chancellor Scholz stressed that the agreement had created the basis for Ukraine to acquire the necessary weapons and to invest in reconstruction and energy infrastructure. It was a “clear signal” to the Russian president that he could not hope for a decrease in international support for Ukraine.
In total, the G7 countries and the EU have frozen around 300 billion euros (325 billion dollars) in assets of the Russian central bank. The EU member states recently agreed to use the interest earnings from frozen assets to provide further military aid to Ukraine. This amounts to around three billion euros annually.
Putin outlines conditions for negotiations
Putin also formulated conditions for negotiations with Ukraine on Friday. Russia is ready to stop fighting and start talks if the Ukrainian armed forces withdraw from the four eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, which have already been annexed by the government in Moscow.
Ukraine must also give up its aspirations to join NATO. As soon as that happens, “we will immediately, literally the same minute, cease fire and begin talks,” Putin said.
Russia would ensure a safe withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, Putin claimed. The Russian president said the proposal was not about a temporary ceasefire, but about ending the conflict completely. However, if Ukraine and the West reject the latest Russian proposal, the conditions for a new proposal would change and the situation on the battlefield would not be in Ukraine’s favor, the Kremlin chief threatened.