Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Qatar to promote a summit about his blueprint for peace amid uncertainty over the number of countries from the so-called Global South that would attend the event.
Eurozone finance ministers gave political backing on Wednesday to an effort by Group of Seven (G7) nations to provide loans to Ukraine using windfall profits generated from immobilised Russian central bank assets.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was badly injured in an assassination attempt last month, defiantly vowed to stick to his at times controversial policies when he returns to work as early as this month.
Zelensky visits Qatar to seek support for Ukraine summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Qatar to promote a summit about his blueprint for peace amid uncertainty over the number of countries from the so-called Global South that would attend the event.
The Ukrainian leader has stepped up international visits since the end of May, travelling to the Philippines and Singapore, as he seeks to secure support among foreign leaders for the June 15-16 gathering in Switzerland. But his efforts were dealt a blow when China indicated it may skip the meeting and together with Brazil called for a rival forum that would include Russia.
“Qatar also took an active part in the Peace Summit preparations and should become one of the Middle Eastern voices in support of returning people home, as well as global food, nuclear, and energy security,” Zelensky said on Wednesday on social media platform X.
Eurozone finance chiefs back G7 push on frozen Russian assets
Eurozone finance ministers gave political backing on Wednesday to an effort by Group of Seven nations to provide loans to Ukraine using windfall profits generated from immobilised Russian central bank assets.
“The discussion among ministers showed appreciation for the constructive engagement with G7 partners in this regard and full support for it to continue,” Eurogroup president Paschal Donohoe said following a video conference meeting of finance ministers.
The meeting was called to explore options on how to front-load financial aid to Ukraine by providing loans based on the profits derived from immobilised Russian central bank assets. The discussion came after G7 finance ministers last month pushed ahead with the plan, aimed at harnessing as much as $50-billion to help Ukraine’s war effort. They agreed to present options to G7 leaders ahead of next week’s summit in Italy.
G7 countries have immobilised about $280-billion of Russian central bank assets in response to President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with the majority held in Europe through the Belgium-based clearing house Euroclear.
Eurozone ministers were positive about the process but emphasised the need for risk-sharing between the EU and the US, according to people familiar with the discussion.
During Wednesday’s meeting, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde signalled that using future interest revenues derived from the immobilised assets did not represent a risk to the euro, the people added, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
One option being considered is a US-led proposal where the US — and possibly other G7 countries — would provide a loan to Ukraine that would be repaid by the windfall profits generated by the immobilised assets in the EU, in addition to other G7 partners’ contributions.
But the plan relies on receiving assurances from the EU that Russia’s assets would remain frozen until Russia has agreed to pay reparations and that the windfall profits would be available for the repayment of the loan.
Currently, the EU needs to renew its Russia sanctions every six months, including the immobilisation of its central bank assets, a step that requires unanimous approval by the bloc’s 27 member states. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has become a hurdle in clearing recent rounds of sanctions against Moscow, as well as in approving financial and military aid for Kyiv.
Slovak PM blames opposition for shooting, warns of more victims
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was badly injured in an assassination attempt last month, defiantly vowed to stick to his at times controversial policies when he returns to work as early as this month.
In his first public remarks since the 15 May shooting, Fico lambasted opposition legislators and what he called anti-government media. He said the assailant, 71-year-old retiree Juraj C, was “a messenger of evil and political hatred.”
“It is to be expected that anti-government media, non-governmental organisations funded from abroad and the opposition will begin to downplay the attempt on my life, claiming there were no connections between the attacker and the opposition,” Fico said in a video published on Wednesday by his office.
“If the opposition persists in its current stance, the horror of May 15 will continue, and there will be more victims. I have no doubt about that, not for a second.”
Fico, who has dominated Slovak politics since the fall of communism more than three decades ago, has campaigned to stop the country’s military aid to Ukraine, threatening to undermine European Union unity in helping the government in Kyiv.
In the 14-minute video, Fico accused “some large Western democracies” of interference in domestic Slovak affairs and of attempting to squash views that did not align with their own.
“I reject external interference in countries that have decided to go their own way,” said Fico, adding that “the right to a different opinion” had ceased to exist in the EU.
“Currently, there is only one correct opinion, which is that the war in Ukraine must continue at all costs with the aim of weakening the Russian Federation,” he said.
“Anyone who does not agree with this opinion is immediately labelled as a Russian agent and internationally politically marginalised.”
Putin’s flagship forum offers stage to children of Kremlin elite
Vladimir Putin turns his native St Petersburg into the heart of power for his flagship economic event this week. Increasingly, the gathering in Russia’s former imperial capital is becoming a generational showcase for the children of the Kremlin elite.
The president’s daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, are among the speakers at the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum (Spief) that begins on Wednesday. Former defence minister and current Security Council Secretary, Sergei Shoigu’s daughter, Ksenia, also takes part in a panel event.
So does Kremlin Chief of Staff Anton Vaino’s son, Alexander. Anna Tsivileva, named as a relative of Putin’s by the UK government and who’s married to Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev, is also due to speak as head of a state fund set up by the president last year to help soldiers who fought in the war on Ukraine.
“The rise of the princes — children of representatives of the political elite” has begun, Yevgeny Minchenko, a political scientist who’s worked with the Kremlin, said in a report on Russia’s power structure called Politburo 2.0, a reference to the former Soviet Union’s system of government. Kinship was now an “essential” factor under Putin, he said.
Children of some of the president’s closest allies are also listed as participants at the four-day event, including Roman Rotenberg, whose father Boris was among Putin’s childhood judo partners.
Russian business chiefs and officials flock to St Petersburg for Spief, eager to please a ruler whose February 2022 invasion of Ukraine drained much of the glitz and energy from an event that attracted global leaders before Russia was hit by unprecedented sanctions. Putin’s address to the forum’s plenary on Friday is the invitation-only hot ticket for attendees, who pay a hefty 1.35 million roubles ($15,200) to attend this year’s Spief.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe all appeared at Spief in the past. Now there are few Western figures, and the forum has tilted toward “friendly” countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa in search of prominent guests.
Once aimed at luring US and European investors as a “window” into Russia, Spief now has a distinctly anti-Western agenda. This year’s schedule includes discussion panels such as “Requiem for Europe: A New Era of International Cooperation” and “‘The Empire of Evil’: Has the West Successfully Demonised Russia?”
Biden to meet Zelensky in Italy, France despite skipping summit
President Joe Biden is planning a pair of meetings with Zelensky in the coming weeks, looking to telegraph US solidarity with Kyiv despite plans to skip an upcoming peace summit in Switzerland.
Biden will meet with Zelensky later this week in France on the sidelines of the ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, and then again the following week at the Group of Seven summit in Italy, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.
The dual meetings would “really allow them to go deep on every aspect and every issue in the war”, Sullivan said. The pair would discuss “how we can continue and deepen our support for Ukraine”, he added.
The Ukrainian leader has criticised Biden’s decision to skip the peace summit. The US president had previously scheduled a high-dollar political fundraiser in Los Angeles featuring former president Barack Obama and Hollywood stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
Instead, Sullivan and Vice-President Kamala Harris are expected to represent the US at the meeting.
Sullivan said that in addition to Biden’s recent authorisation for the limited use of US weapons by Ukraine in Russian territory, the US was ready to expand the training of Ukrainian soldiers on Western-made equipment inside Germany as part of its assistance effort. DM