Amid Russia war on Ukraine, Bill Clinton relaunching Clinton Global Initiative

Amid the Russian war on Ukraine and the coronavirus, former President Bill Clinton announced Friday that the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is resuming full operations after largely shuttering in early 2017.

Clinton made the announcement in an open letter in which he also announced a meeting in New York City in September for members of the "CGI community." He said the pandemic and the Russian war on Ukraine are the two major events that spurred him to bring back the initiative that's been effectively dormant for years.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has ripped the cover off of longstanding inequities and vulnerabilities across our global community," Clinton said. "The existential threat of climate change grows every day. Democracy is under assault around the world, most glaringly in Ukraine where Russia has launched an unjustified and unprovoked invasion that has put millions of lives in grave danger."

The CGI faced scrutiny during former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign for its significant international donations – which some said could create conflicts of interest.