US Pushes For Ukraine Aid, United Front Against China's Trade Practices at G7 Finance Meeting

US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen addresses the audience as she attends a press conference in Stresa on May 23, 2024, on the eve of the G7 finance ministers meeting. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen addresses the audience as she attends a press conference in Stresa on May 23, 2024, on the eve of the G7 finance ministers meeting. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
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US Pushes For Ukraine Aid, United Front Against China's Trade Practices at G7 Finance Meeting

US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen addresses the audience as she attends a press conference in Stresa on May 23, 2024, on the eve of the G7 finance ministers meeting. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen addresses the audience as she attends a press conference in Stresa on May 23, 2024, on the eve of the G7 finance ministers meeting. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

The US sought to build support for squeezing more money for Ukraine out of frozen Russian assets and for uniting against China’s aggressive trade practices as finance ministers from the Group of Seven rich democracies opened a two-day meeting on Friday on the shores of northern Italy’s scenic Lago Maggiore.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is pushing at the meeting in Stresa for “more ambitious options” to unlock money from some $260 billion in Russian central bank reserves frozen in Europe and the US after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. Aid for Ukraine has become more urgent as Kyiv’s finances look shakier against the prospect of an even longer conflict, and as Russia steps up its destruction of civilian infrastructure such as power stations, The Associated Press said.
European officials have balked at outright confiscating the funds and handing them to Ukraine as compensation for the destruction caused by Russia. Instead they plan to use the interest accumulating on the assets, but that’s only around $3 billion a year — about one month’s financing needs for the Ukrainian government.
Proposals include borrowing against the future interest income from the frozen assets, so that Ukraine could be given as much as $50 billion immediately.
Ukraine spends almost all its tax revenue on the military and needs another $40 billion a year to continue paying pensions and the salaries of doctors, nurses and teachers. Support from allies and a $15.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund was initially thought to have secured the budget for four years, but the prospects of an extended conflict have darkened the outlook.
Yellen has also called for a clear united front against China’s state subsidies for manufacturing of solar panels, semiconductors and electric cars, saying that China’s production capacity exceeds the needs not only of China but of the global economy as a whole and threatens the existence of competing companies in both Group of Seven and developing countries. Ahead of the meeting she said that countries needed to take a common stance so that China’s leaders understand that “they face a wall of opposition to this strategy that they are pursuing.”
The finance ministers are working to set up final decisions at the summit of G7 leaders that will take place June 13-15 in Fasano, in southern Italy’s Puglia region.
The G7 is an informal forum that holds an annual summit to discuss economic policy and security issues. The member countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Representatives of the European Union also take part, but the EU does not serve as one of the rotating chairs.



Nobel Laureate Mohammadi Says Iran Issuing Death Threats

Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
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Nobel Laureate Mohammadi Says Iran Issuing Death Threats

Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP

Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for women's and human rights in Iran, has received death threats from Tehran, the Nobel Committee said Friday.

Mohammadi, who has spent much of the past decade behind bars, was released from Tehran's Evin prison in December for a limited period on medical leave, with her legal team repeatedly warning that she could be re-arrested at any time, AFP reported.

Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said in a statement he had received an "urgent phone call" from Mohammadi, 53, who said her life was now in danger.

"The clear message, in her own words, is that 'I have been directly and indirectly threatened with 'physical elimination' by agents of the regime'," he said.

"The threats conveyed to Ms. Mohammadi make it clear that her security is at stake, unless she commits to end all public engagement within Iran, as well as any international advocacy or media appearances in support of democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression," the statement added.

The Committee said it was "deeply concerned" about the threats against Mohammadi and "all Iranian citizens with a critical voice, and call upon the authorities to safeguard not only their lives, but also their freedom of expression."

Mohammadi has been repeatedly tried and jailed for her vocal campaigning against Iran's widespread use of capital punishment and its mandatory dress code for women.

She won the Nobel primarily for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran. Her children collected the award on her behalf as she was in prison at the time.