Closing summary
Here’s a recap of the first day of the G7 summit in Puglia, Italy:
The US and Ukraine signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement seen by Kyiv as a stopgap on the road to joining the Nato alliance. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at a press conference, called it a “historic day” and thanked Joe Biden and “everyone in America” for the US’s continued support.
Joe Biden said the security pact would make Ukraine “strong, sustainable and resilient”. Russia’s war has been a test of the world, the US president said at the joint presser, adding that the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin “cannot wait us out. He cannot divide us.”
Ukraine also signed a bilateral security deal with Japan on Thursday, providing Ukraine with $4.5bn this year and support for the next decade. Zelenskiy hailed the “unique document with one of the world’s most economically and technologically advanced countries” and thanked Tokyo for its “unwavering support”.
Italy has been accused of scrapping a reference guaranteeing access to “safe and legal” abortions in the text of the G7 summit’s final declaration. The US and France have pushed back on the reported attempt by Italy’s prime minister, Georgia Meloni, with the French president Emmanuel Macron expressing regret at Rome’s position.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has praised an agreement reached on guaranteeing a $50bn loan to Ukraine using profits from frozen Russian central bank assets held in Europe. “It is a strong signal that we are sending to Ukraine that we will support Ukraine in its fight for freedom for as long as it takes,” she said. “It is also a strong signal to Putin that Putin cannot outlast us.”
Russia has said that the G7 agreement to provide Ukraine with $50bn in loans by using interest from frozen Russian assets would be criminal. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said attempts by the west to take the income from frozen Russian assets would lead to a response from Moscow that would be very painful for the EU.
The UK, US and Canada have accused Russia of a plot to interfere in Moldova’s presidential election and referendum on EU membership later this year. In a pointed joint statement issued on the first day of the G7 summit in Italy, the three governments accused Russian actors of “spreading lies” and “seeking to undermine Moldovan democratic institutions” in a campaign of political interference stretching back years.
Zelenskiy: US-Ukraine security agreement 'benefits everyone in the world'
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, warns that Russia is a “real global threat” and notes that the security agreement between his country and the US is an agreement on “how our nations will become stronger”.
This is an agreement on steps to guarantee sustainable peace and therefore it benefits everyone in the world.
Zelenskiy also notes that the agreement is a “bridge” to Ukraine’s membership in Nato.
