The G7 summit began on Thursday with an agreement to lend Ukraine $50 billion using money generated from frozen Russian state assets, in a major show of support for Kiev.
The war in Europe was commanding the attention of Group of Seven leaders meeting for a three-day summit in southern Italy, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky set to address the gathering later Thursday.
Diplomats said that after months of negotiations an agreement had been reached on the large loan package. Kiev is set to use the money to strengthen its defence, pay for the reconstruction of infrastructure and fund the state budget.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been at a G7 summit since 2014, when Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea region. He has nevertheless cast a shadow over the annual conferences, and this year is no different.
The US government says around $280 billion of Russian central bank money has been immobilized in Western countries due to sanctions imposed since the full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine more than two years ago.
The bulk of the money is within the European Union. The bloc's member states recently approved the use of interest income generated from Russian state assets to finance aid for Ukraine.
The Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear - by far the largest holder in the EU of frozen Russian central bank assets - recently said that it had collected around €4.4 billion ($4.7 billion) in interest in 2023.
Planning for the structure of the loan package has been under way for some time. The United States had originally campaigned in favour of collecting not only the interest income, but also the frozen assets themselves and using them to provide financial support to Kiev.
But some European capitals had major reservations about this, resulting in the compromise in which the interest is used as collateral to pay off the loan.
The finance ministers of the seven advanced industrialized democracies - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - are now set to clarify the outstanding technical and legal details.
One of thorny issues is who would bear the credit risks if the EU sanctions on the assets could not be extended, for instance due to the veto of a member state. That would be mean that the interest could no longer be used to pay off the loan.
At the summit, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced another £242 million ($309 million) in bilateral assistance to Ukraine.
London also issued 50 more sanctions targeting Russia's financial system and suppliers for Russian military supply chains. The United States issued several hundred new sanctions on Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden and Zelensky will also sign a bilateral security agreement between the United States and Ukraine on the sidelines of the G7, the White House has said. Kiev has struck similar commitments with 15 countries, including Britain, France and Germany.
Besides Zelensky, the leaders of Turkey, Brazil and India will also be attending the Italy talks. Pope Francis will be the first pontiff to take part in a G7 summit; He was invited to address the risks posed by artificial intelligence.
The war in Gaza and tensions with China are also set to feature high on the agenda at the 28-villa luxury Borgo Egnazia resort, located to the south-east of the city of Bari in southern Italy's Apulia region. The hotel has previously played host to international celebrities such as Madonna, Justin Timberlake and the Beckhams.
International crises were not the only elements at play in Italy.
This could be Biden's final G7 summit, coming five months before he faces his predecessor and right-wing Republican rival Donald Trump in a US presidential contest that has Washington's allies on edge.
European leaders are under domestic political pressure, too.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will arrive after far-right parties made big gains in last weekend's European Parliament elections, raising questions about their countries' political environments.
And, after 14 years of Conservative government in Britain, Sunak is expected to suffer a stinging defeat to the opposition Labour Party in the July 4 general election.
