G7 Leaders Agree on $50 Billion Loan to Ukraine From Frozen Russian Assets

The United States and the West’s other large economies have agreed on a plan to issue a roughly $50 billion loan to Ukraine that would be repaid by interest and profits from nearly $300 billion in frozen Russian assets held in the West.

The promise of much-needed financial support for weapons and to begin to rebuild damaged infrastructure comes as Ukraine has been forced to sell some state assets and as the momentum in the war on its territory has shifted in favor of its foe, Russia, whose forces launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.

President Biden agreed to have the United States underwrite the entire loan, but American officials said they expected allies, including members of the European Union, to provide some of the upfront funds.

The loan would eventually be repaid through interest and profits earned on the frozen Russian assets, which would serve as collateral.

In a news conference Thursday with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in Italy, on the sidelines of the Group of 7 summit, Mr. Biden said the agreement was another reminder to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that “we’re not backing down. In fact, we’re standing together against this illegal aggression.”

In New York on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, an architect of the plan, said that the profits from Russia’s assets would provide Ukraine with additional aid in the future, making it harder for Mr. Putin to wait out the West.