By Janet Ekstract NEW YORK -The G7 Summit got underway in Puglia, Italy on Wednesday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hosting the summit after her far-right party, Brothers of Italy won at the European elections. The 49th G7 Summit will see the major focus on getting more financial assistance to Ukraine. This year’s G7 Summit theme revolves around the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as well as the Middle East. The focus also centers on developing nations and emerging economies, migration, climate energy linkages, food security and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Economic security was on the agenda for the first time at this 49th G7 Summit while leaders showed solidarity on enhancing resilience in the supply chain and critical infrastructure. Agreement was also united on strengthening the G7 countries’ response to non-market policy and practice as well as economic coercion. Regarding Ukraine, G7 leaders have agreed to create a $50 billion loan to assist Ukraine in staving off Russian attacks. The loan would come from interest earned on profits from Russia’s frozen central bank assets as collateral. A majority of the money for Ukraine will be provided as a loan from the U.S. government supported by windfall profits earned on $300 billion in immobilized Russian assets. Most of this money is held in European Union countries. According to law, the money can’t be given to Ukraine outright but an extra judicial procedure would be required.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to announce upwards of close to 250m pounds sterling to support Ukraine’s energy and humanitarian needs. On Wednesday, Sunak said that allies must be “decisive and creative in our efforts to support Ukraine and end [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal war at this critical moment.” In addition, the summit will see sessions on the climate crisis, focusing on leaders moving more quickly to renewable energy sources. Africa and investment projects run by Italy will be discussed as a way to encourage young Africans to remain rather than migrate illegally. The Israel-Hamas situation and the US-backed ceasefire plan, approved by the U.N. will be under discussion as well as AI, to be addressed by Pope Francis. The Pope is calling for global regulation of AI, warning about the danger it presents to ethics and human rights. It’s the first time that a pope is attending a G7 summit. A number of world leaders were invited including the presidents of Brazil and Turkiye with a number of Arab leaders and it’s the first time a pope is attending a G7 summit. A number of other world leaders were invited including from the Middle East with the goal of expanding the global consensus.
