G7: US' Yellen Talks On Russia Frozen Asset Use, China & Israel

In an interview with Sky News, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has claimed that she believes there is a 'possibility' that G7 leaders will back the US proposal for issuing USD50bn in loans for Ukraine secured by frozen Russian assets held in the US and Europe. Yellen says she is hopeful of a "united front" ahead of the 24-25 May G7 fin min meeting, claiming that Ukraine's "substantial needs" required action. She adds that "not every detail" of the plan needs to be worked out by the time of the G7 leaders' summit in July. 

• On China, Yellen says the US' concerns about China's strategy "are shared among G7 finance ministers," and that there does not need to be detailed coordination between G7 countries on China's trade actions, but that it is more foreceful to speak with China as a group on 'overcapacity'. 
• Yellen: "...[with China] we do believe... that while we have issues with respect to economic matters, we have a broad and deep trade and investment relationship that we think is valuable,[...], and we very much want to preserve. So we do think that the playing field should be level. And I've been frank that there are areas where we feel we're over-dependent on China for critical supplies, and it is our intention to develop a more resilient supply chain."
• On Israel, Yellen "said there had been no discussions within her department over the prospects for sanctions against the Israeli government over its handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza."