U.S. Pres. Biden to push plans for frozen Russian assets, Chinese overcapacity in G7

Transcript

00:00When the richest seven nations on the planet gather this week for their annual G7 huddle,

00:04U.S. President Joe Biden will urge all G7 members to cash in on Russia's frozen assets

00:10to bankroll Ukraine's sustained defense against the former Soviet Union's armed attacks.

00:15In addition, Biden will ask all to come together to tackle infrastructure spending,

00:20development of AI, and Chinese overcapacity in green technologies.

00:24VOA's White House Bureau Chief Patsy Whitakoswara reports on a trending

00:29right-wing shift in the EU political landscape that may get in the way of Biden's plans.

00:36As Russian forces advance on the battlefield in Ukraine and war funding fatigue settles more

00:41deeply among American and European taxpayers, the U.S. wants the group of seven leading

00:45industrialized nations to provide Kyiv with a 50 billion dollar loan to be paid back using

00:51interest from the approximately 280 billion dollars in Russian assets immobilized in

00:58Western financial institutions. President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President

01:02Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris last week. The United States is standing with you.

01:08You are the bulwark against the aggression that's taking place.

01:12Having quadrupled tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other key sectors last month,

01:17Biden now wants the G7 to confront Beijing's practice of flooding global markets

01:22with cheap exports in those industries. It's critical that we and the growing

01:27number of countries who have identified this as a concern present a clear and united front.

01:35However, far-right parties gains in European Parliament elections over the weekend

01:39have weakened French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz,

01:44adding uncertainty to the G7's posture on Russia and China.

01:49Ursula von der Leyen is fighting to remain European Commission President for another term.

01:54If she succeeds, Europe is expected to remain strong on Russia and China.

01:59But the wild card really are the French elections here, the snap elections that Emmanuel Macron

02:03has announced after his defeat in the European Parliamentary elections. If the far right gets

02:09into government in France, then we will have trouble not only on Ukraine support,

02:14but also on the China front. G7 host Italian Prime Minister

02:18Giorgia Meloni has invited Pope Francis to highlight the Rome call for AI ethics,

02:24urging governments and companies to follow ethical principles for AI.

02:29Curbing migration to Europe by investing in Africa is another key theme of Meloni's G7

02:34presidency. The initiative aligns with the G7's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and

02:40Investment, whose goal is to mobilize 600 billion dollars in private infrastructure funding by 2027

02:47as an alternative to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. Meloni's far-right

02:51Brothers of Italy Party victory in the European Parliamentary election has consolidated her power.

02:59I'm proud that this nation presents itself at the G7 in Europe with the strongest government

03:04of all. Biden leaves for Italy on Wednesday, a day after his son Hunter Biden was found guilty

03:11on federal charges of obtaining a gun in 2018 while addicted to drugs.

03:17Patsy Widakoswara, UA News, at the White House.