China Daily Editorial
As Europe shifts to the right, creating even greater uncertainties, the record low ratings of at least four G7 leaders in the run-up to elections in their countries show the ongoing G7 Summit in Italy is anything but well-timed, which will prevent them from hammering out any agreement of global significance.
And yet the G7 leaders have agreed to the United States’ move to give Ukraine a loan of about US$50 billion which would be repaid by interest and profits from the nearly US$300 billion in frozen Russian assets in the West, especially in the European Union. Initially, the EU had been hesitant to use Russia’s frozen assets to fund Ukraine for fear of violating international law, weakening investor confidence in the euro and triggering a capital flight from the European market and, more importantly, provoking a strong retaliation from Russia. But ultimately it succumbed to US pressure.
Within the EU, the debate on how and whether to use Russia’s frozen assets to provide funds for Ukraine had been deadlocked for more than a year. Last month, however, the EU approved the use of the net proceeds from the frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defense industry and reconstruction projects. By doing so, the G7 leaders have made their diabolic intentions of intensifying the Russia-Ukraine conflict clear.
The move sets a very bad precedent of the band of rich countries stealing the assets of sovereign states — the US is still holding about US$6 billion worth of Afghanistan central bank’s assets. That the Western powers are not providing Ukraine with aid from their own coffers, as promised, should prompt Kyiv to question their sincerity.
Incidentally, the new US-Ukraine security treaty the two heads of state inked on Thursday makes two things clear – that Ukraine cannot join NATO and no US national’s blood will be shed for Ukraine – casting a shadow over the “Summit on Peace in Ukraine” being held in Switzerland on the weekend. Anyway, the talking shop in Switzerland was not expected to find a solution to the Ukraine crisis, primarily because Russia was not invited to the talks.
Similar to the “peace talks” in Switzerland, the G7 Summit seems intent on putting all the blame on Russia for the Ukraine crisis. When it comes to Beijing, the G7 leaders are harping on the same string — the Taiwan question, the South China Sea issues, the “China threat” theory. The G7 leaders’ desperate efforts to distract public attention from burning domestic issues are no longer working, as reflected in the declining ratings of the four G7 leaders.
The G7 has long forgotten that its original mission is to coordinate macroeconomic policies and help the world overcome economic crises, for it has been doing just the opposite by triggering the Russia-Ukraine conflict and blindly supporting Israel’s brutal assault on the Palestinian people.
– Courtesy of China Daily
