06/20/2023 23:26 (act. 06/20/2023 23:30)
US Secretary of State Blinken leads conference attendees ©APA/AFP/POOL
Several foreign ministers are due to attend a conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction in London on Wednesday. The two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference will focus on how to encourage private companies to invest in the country. Among the participants are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock. Austria’s top diplomat, Alexander Schallenberg, is planning several bilateral meetings in London.
On the agenda, for example, is the issue of investment guarantees, with which the risk for companies can be reduced by the State. However, Kiev must also be obliged to carry out reforms, for example, to control corruption in the country and create more transparency. At a meeting with his British counterpart James Cleverly in London on Tuesday, Blinken urged Kiev to strengthen democratic institutions in the country, which has been hit by Russia’s war of aggression. He also pledged support from the United States and other allies.
A video-streamed speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to kick off the conference on Wednesday. Schallenberg wants to take the floor later this afternoon (CEST). According to his spokeswoman, he wants to meet with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Turkey’s new chief diplomat Hakan Fidan and Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu, on the sidelines of the conference.