G7 leaders agree on 'fairness' of forcing Russia to pay for Ukraine reconstruction: US official

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Leaders from the G7 group of industrialized nations agree on the "fairness" of forcing Russia to pay for the costs of reconstruction of Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said Friday amid the Kremlin's ongoing invasion of its eastern European neighbor.

"There was an agreement, there was an understanding that the costs are mounting, and the conversation really focused on the fairness of forcing Russia to pay rather than taking on more of the burden among G7 countries," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The comments come after G7 leaders agreed to loan Ukraine $50 billion in seized Russian sovereign funds, which they said sends "an unmistakable signal to President Putin," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We are stepping up our collective efforts to disarm and defund Russia’s military industrial complex," they added.

The official said that G7 nations will participate in the loan scheme through three main avenues. They include loaning Ukraine the Russian funding via an intermediary, contributing income to repay the loan, or serving as a guarantor to the lenders for some portion of the total amount.

The US has agreed to provide $15 billion and Canada has agreed to devote $5 billion.

The EU, for its part, will have to go to its 27 member states to get their commitment to what the official described as the "continued immobilization of the Russian reserves."

"Once that step has been taken, the EU will be in a position to decide what portion of the $50 billion loan they wish to take on. The suggestions that were made this week were that it could be as much as half of the entire loan," he said.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and has continued to occupy wide swathes of the country's east amid a stalemate with Ukrainian forces. Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula has been under occupation since 2014.