Boosting support for Kyiv, redirecting key supply chains away from China and setting guardrails for artificial intelligence applications will be just some of the topics discussed by the Group of Seven nations when their leaders meet Thursday to Saturday for a key summit in Italy. Under the chairmanship of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, G7 leaders will have their hands full at the three-day gathering in the resort village of Borgo Egnazia, with the Israel-Gaza conflict, the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific also expected to be high on the agenda. Just like last year's summit in Hiroshima, the leaders will be joined by their counterparts from emerging and developing countries, as the G7 looks to step up cooperation to forge a united front on critical matters.

An estimated 350bn in Russian government assets have been frozen in Western accounts since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. These are not idle funds. In 2023, Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear, whose settling and clearance role mean that it holds 197 billion euros ( 214bn) in such assets, reported that they produced at least 3 billion euros ( 3.26bn) from interest. Given that the sanctions on the Kremlin remain firmly in place and Putin has shown no willingness to negotiate on his demand to annex one-quarter of Ukraine's territory or to cease his attacks, how these assets can be harnessed to push for an end to the war or help Ukraine resist has become a key question for Kyiv's Western allies. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron publicly opened the doors to the idea last December by stating: "Instead of just freezing that money, let's take that money, [and] spend it on rebuilding Ukraine."

I can't believe they had to wait so long. Finally, after 50 days of war, the new U.S. military assistance package announced by President Joe Biden Wednesday afternoon is providing Ukraine some American heavy artillery, 300 armored vehicles, and other equipment that will significantly boost Ukraine's ability to take on the Russians. Based on the list of new weapons going to Ukraine, the Pentagon must see some serious Russian attacks coming. Evidently, somebody lit a fire under the Pentagon staff. Deliveries will "literally start right away," pledged Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Apr. 13.