Yellen sees no ‘show-stoppers’ on G-7 Ukraine loan backed by Russian asset earnings
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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at the G-7 finance leaders meeting in Stresa, Italy, on May 23.
PHOTO: REUTERS
STRESA, Italy – US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on May 24 that she does not see “any show-stoppers” in her discussions with fellow Group of Seven (G-7) finance ministers about a larger loan to Ukraine backed by the income of frozen Russian sovereign assets.
Dr Yellen told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a G-7 finance leaders meeting that not all of the technical details of the loan proposal need to be worked out this weekend.
She said “things look pretty good” for agreement on the concept of the loan, after several bilateral meetings on the first day of the two-day finance summit in the northern Italian resort town of Stresa.
“I’ve not seen anything I regard as a show-stopper, but there are some issues that need to be sorted out and people will have to be flexible to reach common ground,” Dr Yellen said.
The US Treasury chief has been pushing her counterparts in the talks to agree to pull forward the earnings on some US$300 billion (S$405 billion) in Russian sovereign assets to back a larger loan for Ukraine. But it has become clear that no firm details of the loan will emerge from the Stresa talks.
“I’m pretty hopeful we can essentially agree that this is a concept we can work out somewhat more over the next couple of weeks and present to the leaders for their consideration in June.”
G-7 leaders are due to meet in June in Puglia, southern Italy. The group of industrial democracies includes the US, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Italy.
Dr Yellen also told Reuters that there are a “range of views” among G-7 finance ministers on the level of concern about China’s industrial overcapacity, which she argues threatens the viability of firms in market-driven economies.
On the G-7 summit’s first day, some ministers expressed concerns about a potential trade war in the wake of new US tariffs on Chinese goods, but the finance ministers of Germany, France and host Italy said a common front is needed against China’s growing export strength.
“I think there is a general view that we should express a common set of concerns to China,” Dr Yellen said. “It’s that China’s overall macroeconomic strategy is worrisome and has negative spillovers.” REUTERS
