At an international reconstruction conference for Ukraine, foreign donors pledged 60 billion euros to rebuild the war-torn country’s economy. “We didn’t intend for this to be a donors’ conference,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said at the end of the conference on Thursday. “However, today we can announce a total of €60 billion in support for Ukraine.”
According to Cleverly, the promises made by governments and international organizations aim to support Ukraine in the short and medium term. Efforts now focus on unlocking “the enormous potential of the private sector”.
Much of the €60 billion comes from a €50 billion aid package the European Union plans to provide through 2027. The US has announced $1.3 billion in support, mostly earmarked for Ukraine’s energy sector and infrastructure.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked Ukraine’s allies for their financial support. “We will start rebuilding Ukraine this year,” he told the conference. Your country does not wait for the end of the war.
He also welcomed the pledge of “almost all” participants to support the idea that Russia “must pay for its crimes and the destruction it has caused in Ukraine”. Schmyhal called for a “compensation mechanism” to use frozen Russian assets to rebuild his country.
The conference for the reconstruction of Ukraine was the second of its kind, with the objective of mobilizing the necessary funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine in the short and medium term. Private conferencing should also be included. Next year, the conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine will take place in Germany.