G7 mull using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine

Group of Seven leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with $50 billion via the use of frozen Russian assets by the end of the year, the French presidency said on Wednesday.

"We have an agreement," a presidency official said, ahead of a G7 summit in Italy on Thursday that will focus on backing Kyiv's fight against Russia's invasion.

G7 leaders had aimed to agree a deal on using the profits from the interest on 300 billion euros ($325 billion) of frozen Russian central bank assets to help Kyiv, using the profits as collateral for a loan of up to $50 billion.