Biden heads to G-7 summit focused on Ukraine aid, China's support for Russia

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden flies to Italy on June 12 for meetings with his fellow Group of Seven (G-7) leaders aimed at increasing pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine and China for its support of Moscow and excess industrial capacity.

The G-7 leaders are set to arrive at the summit confronting myriad woes at home, even as they seek solutions for many of the world's most pressing problems.

Biden spent the evening on June 11 at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, after a 12-member jury convicted his son, Hunter, of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun in 2018, making him the first child of a sitting US president to be convicted of a crime.

The trial followed the May 30 criminal conviction of Donald Trump, the first former US president to be found guilty of a felony. Biden and Trump are running against each other in the November presidential election and are neck-and-neck in the polls.

The heads of the world's most developed democracies will address multiple challenges during the June 13-15 meeting, including wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, trade imbalances with China, threats posed by artificial intelligence and development challenges in Africa.

The leaders will announce new sanctions and export controls against Russia that target entities and networks helping President Vladimir Putin's forces fight the war in Ukraine,

White House spokesperson John Kirby said on June 11.

"We're going to continue to drive up costs for the Russian war machine," he said.

Washington plans to widen sanctions on the sale of semiconductor chips and other goods to Russia, with the goal of targeting third-party sellers in China, sources familiar with the plans said.

The administration will announce it is broadening existing export controls to include US-branded goods, not just those made in the United States, the sources said. It will identify certain Hong Kong entities it says are shipping goods to Moscow.

Shoring up funding for Ukraine will be a top priority at the G-7 meeting, with US and European officials eager to lock in solutions, ahead of a possible Trump re-election and the uncertainty it would raise over future US support for Kyiv.

The G-7 nations and the European Union are considering how to use profits generated by Russian assets immobilised in the West to provide Ukraine with a large up-front loan to secure Kyiv's financing for 2025.

"We will announce new steps to unlock the value of the immobilised Russian sovereign assets to benefit Ukraine and to help them recover from the destruction that Mr. Putin's army has caused," Kirby said.

Biden will press other G-7 leaders to agree to an innovative plan to use future interest on some US$281 billion (S$380 billion) of Russian central bank funds to back up a US$50 billion loan to Ukraine.

G-7 leaders also face electoral challenges, with polls indicating British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will likely lose power in a national vote in July, and the leaders of France and Germany reeling from heavy defeats in recent European elections.

Biden will meet again with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, followed by a joint press conference, Kirby said

ALSO READ: Russian barrage leaves Kyiv residents without power and water