The United States will announce an "impactful set" of additional sanctions and export control actions against Russia as part of efforts to deprive the Kremlin of resources used to sustain its invasion of Ukraine, the White House said Tuesday.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the Group of Seven's commitment to Ukraine will also continue to be "right up front and clear" and it will take "bold steps" to show Russian President Vladimir Putin that "time is not on his side."
Kirby refrained from providing details, but added that new actions to be taken by the world's leading industrialized democracies will include unlocking the value of frozen Russian assets to benefit Ukraine and help the country recover from the war's destruction.
At the group's summit this year in southern Italy, starting Thursday, a major topic will be how best to use the interest earned by the immobilized Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
Diplomatic sources have said the G7 members, including Britain, Japan and the United States, are finalizing arrangements to establish a fund to support Ukraine.
As for the upcoming U.S. sanctions, Kirby said they will follow through on some of the commitments G7 leaders have made to date, making it more difficult for financial facilitators to support Russia's defense industrial base.
On the sidelines of the three-day summit at a luxurious hotel in the southern Italian region of Puglia, U.S. President Joe Biden will sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss Washington's next steps for the war-torn country, he said.
The bilateral meeting, followed by a joint press conference by the two presidents, is scheduled for Thursday, according to Kirby.
He said that during the G7 summit, the leaders will also advance efforts toward an Indo-Pacific region that is "free, open, secure, prosperous, resilient and connected," and discuss China's deepening ties with Russia as well as Beijing's non-market policies that are triggering "harmful global spillovers."
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