[런던=뉴스핌] Correspondent Jang Il-hyeon = Britain announced that it would provide a loan worth 2.26 billion pounds (about 4 trillion won) to Ukraine.
This is in accordance with an agreement reached last June by the leaders of the G7 to use Russia’s frozen assets to raise a total of $50 billion (approximately 68.9 trillion won) in loans and provide them to Ukraine.
In mid-September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “The EU will provide Ukraine with a loan worth 35 billion euros (about 52.2 trillion won),” and EU countries have recently provided such loans. The plan was approved.
Canada also announced that it would provide $3.6 billion (about 5 trillion won).
As the UK, following the EU and Canada, has announced specific lending policies, the West’s efforts to provide financial support to Ukraine appear to be accelerating.
The United States and Japan are the countries that have not yet revealed a clear position on the ‘$50 billion loan’ project.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said on the 21st (local time), “The UK has decided to lend Ukraine 2.26 billion pounds,” adding, “Kiu (Ukraine) will use this money to purchase weapons to fight Russian aggression.” “We will allow it,” he said.
Secretary Reeves stated this at a joint press conference held with Secretary of Defense John Healey on this day, saying, “I hope that all the puzzles of G7 funding will be put together at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings held in Washington, USA, this weekend.”
At the summit last June, G7 leaders agreed on a plan to provide financial support to Ukraine using about $300 billion in Russian financial assets (frozen assets) locked up in the EU.
The idea is to raise a loan worth $50 billion in the international financial market using interest from frozen assets as collateral and provide it to Ukraine. It was proposed that the US and the EU would each take on $20 billion in loans, and the remaining $10 billion would be shared between the UK, Japan, and Canada.
The Financial Times reported that about 3 billion euros worth of interest is generated annually from Russia’s frozen assets.
However, the implementation of the loan did not speed up as arguments were raised during the working-level negotiations that sanctions (freezing) on Russian financial assets should be strengthened to better guarantee loan repayment.
“The UK’s loan provision will be implemented regardless of whether other countries keep their promises,” Reeves said.
The United States also recently expressed its “willingness to provide” $20 billion in loans, but there are also observations that this may change depending on the results of the presidential election.
The Financial Times said, “Other G7 countries are aware that if Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election next month, Washington’s support for Ukraine may be cut off in January next year when he takes office.”
The United States is known to have provided a total of $64 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Meanwhile, Britain recently announced that it would provide military aid worth 3 billion pounds (about 5.4 trillion won) per year to Ukraine in addition to this loan.
