BRINDISI, Italy (AP) 鈥� President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine on Thursday when they meet on the sidelines of in Italy.
Negotiators for the group have also reached an agreement on how to provide Ukraine with up to $50 billion backed by Russian assets.
The international group of wealthy democracies has been discussing ways of using the more than $260 billion in frozen Russian assets, most of which are outside the country, to help Ukraine fight war machine.
European officials have resisted confiscating the assets, citing legal and financial stability concerns, but the plan would use the interest earned on the assets to help Ukraine鈥檚 war effort. An official with the French presidency confirmed the agreement Wednesday, saying most of the money would be flowing to Ukraine in the form of a loan from the U.S. government backed by the proceeds of the frozen Russian assets in the European Union. Two other people familiar with the matter confirmed the arrangement.
Final technical negotiations were underway ahead of the summit to finalize the legal terms of the deal.
The announcement of the agreement comes as Biden landed in Italy with an urgency to get big things done. Thursday's security arrangement was aimed to send a signal to Russia of American resolve in supporting Kyiv, the White House said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the security agreement would not commit U.S. troops directly to Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion 鈥� a red line drawn by Biden, who's fearful of being pulled into direct conflict between the nuclear-armed powers.
鈥淲e want to demonstrate that the U.S. supports the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them and that we鈥檒l continue to help address their security needs,鈥� Sullivan said, adding 鈥渢his agreement will show our resolve.鈥�
Sullivan said aboard Air Force One that the goal of the financing plan was to have a loan that would 鈥減ull forward the windfall profits from the seized assets鈥� of Russia, giving Ukraine a 鈥渟ubstantial source of funding鈥� to meet its immediate needs.
The national security adviser said he had a specific sum of money in mind, but declined to say if that figure was $50 billion. He stressed the urgency of getting Ukraine financial resources as soon as possible and that multiple countries would back the agreement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 to provide the necessary resources to Ukraine now for its economic energy and other needs, so that it鈥檚 capable of having the resilience necessary to withstand Russia鈥檚 continuing aggression,鈥� Sullivan said.
This year's meeting comes three years after Biden declared at his first such gathering that America was back as a global leader following the disruptions to Western alliances that occurred when was president. Now, there's a chance this gathering could be the final summit for Biden and other G7 leaders, depending on the results of elections this year.
Biden and his counterparts from sa国际传媒, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan will use the summit to discuss challenges related to artificial intelligence, migration, the Russian military鈥檚 resurgence and China's economic might, among other topics. Pope Francis, Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are joining the gathering at the Borgo Egnazia resort in the Puglia region of southern Italy.
The summit, which opened Thursday, will play out after far-right parties across the continent racked up gains of surprising scale in just-concluded . Those victories 鈥� coupled with upcoming elections in the , and the 鈥� have rattled the global political establishment and added weightiness to this year's summit.
鈥淵ou hear this a lot when you talk to U.S. and European officials: If we can't get this done now, whether it's on China, whether it's on the assets, we may not have another chance,鈥� said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council鈥檚 GeoEconomics Center, an international affairs think tank. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what the world will look like three months, six months, nine months from now."
The G7 is an informal bloc of industrialized democracies that meets annually to discuss shared issues and concerns. This is Biden's second trip outside the U.S. in as many weeks; the Democratic president was in France last week for in Paris and ceremonies in Normandy marking in World War II.
While last week鈥檚 visit had a celebratory feel, this one will be dominated by pressing global issues, including how to keep financial support flowing to Ukraine as it fights . Biden's trip comes days after his son Hunter was , a blow sure to weigh heavily on the president's mind.
Despite pressing global challenges, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said there's still a sense of relief among world leaders in 2024 that referencing at the G7 in England.
鈥淏iden鈥檚 message then was that democracies need to step up and show they can deliver for their people,鈥� Kirby said. 鈥淭hat's true now more than ever.鈥�
Kirby said the U.S. was prepared to work with democratically elected officials in the EU no matter who they are, though some of those being elevated have expressed far less support for Ukraine than current leaders.
"We have every confidence that regardless of who fills the seats in the European Parliament, we鈥檙e going to continue to work closely with our EU partners on all the issues relative to our shared interests across the European continent," Kirby said. "That includes supporting Ukraine.鈥�
Biden and Zelenskyy, who , are expected to hold a joint news conference while meeting at the G7 summit. Biden is also expected to meet with , the pope and other leaders.
Biden, who's been adamant 鈥渨e will not walk away鈥� from Ukraine, last week for a monthslong delay by Congress in authorizing additional American military assistance. The delay allowed Russia to make .
Sullivan called the security agreement a 鈥渂ridge鈥� to when Ukraine is invited to join the NATO alliance 鈥� a long-term priority of Zelenskyy鈥檚 that the allies have said will first require an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and that .
Biden鈥檚 back-to-back trips to France and Italy amount to a rare doubleheader of diplomacy in the midst of . The president, however, will skip a in Switzerland this weekend to jet to Los Angeles for a campaign fundraiser with big names from Hollywood. Vice President Kamala Harris .
Despite the delays in military aid, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced it would to help fend off Russian strikes, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. also targeting Chinese companies that help Russia pursue its war in Ukraine, as well as Russia鈥檚 financial infrastructure. Sullivan said, 鈥淭hese actions will ratchet up the risk that foreign financial institutions take by dealing with Russia鈥檚 war economy.鈥�
Biden is also expected to discuss economic concerns brought on by Chinese manufacturing overcapacity, how to use artificial intelligence in a way that maximizes benefits but still manages national security risks, and global migration.
The U.S. and other G7 nations are struggling to manage large influxes of migrants arriving for complicated reasons that include war, climate change and drought. Migration, and how nations cope with the growing numbers at their borders, has been in some of Europe.
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Superville reported from Bari, Italy. Miller and Madhani reported from Washington. Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Fatima Hussein and Josh Boak in Washington contributed.
Darlene Superville, Colleen Long, Zeke Miller And Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press
