Leaders of the G7 group have agreed to engineer a 46 billion euro loan to help Ukraine in its fight for survival that would use interest earned on profits from Russia’s frozen central bank assets as collateral, reported from Euronews.

Diplomats confirmed that an agreement had been reached on the deal before the leaders even landed in southern Italy for the three-day summit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be on hand and is expected to sign a separate bilateral security agreement with US President Joe Biden.

In the meantime, Pope Francis will become the first leader of the Catholic Church to address a Group of Seven summit, adding a dash of religious authority to the annual gathering being held this year in Italy's sun-drenched Puglia region.

He’ll be speaking Friday about the promises and perils of artificial intelligence but is expected to also renew his appeal for a peaceful end to wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Host Italy has invited several African leaders — Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Kenyan President William Ruto and Tunisian President Kais Saied — to press Italy's Africa initiatives.

Other guests include Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — fresh off his own election — and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.





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