Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was quoted on Wednesday as saying progress in Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces was “slower than desired”, but that Kyiv would not be pressured into speeding it up. The World Bank has estimated the cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction at more than $400 billion, a figure rising daily alongside the human toll of Russia’s invasion. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, Politicians from Europe and the U.S. vowed that Russia would one day be made to pay for the destruction — though officials acknowledged that day is some way off. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would give more than $1.3 billion in new aid, including more than $500 million to restore and improve Ukraine’s battered energy grid. The Associated Press has the story:
Allies pledge billions for Ukraine rebuilding
Newslooks- (AP)
Ukraine’s allies pledged several billion dollars in non-military aid on Wednesday to rebuild its war-ravaged infrastructure, fight corruption and help pave the country’s road to membership in the European Union.
Stressing the vast scale of the task, diplomats and political leaders at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London urged private-sector companies to invest and revive an economy battered by almost a year and a half of war.
Delegates from more than 60 countries attended the conference, which is both a fundraising forum and a message to Russia that Ukraine’s Western supporters are in it for the long haul.
The World Bank has estimated the cost of the reconstruction at more than $400 billion, a figure rising daily alongside the human toll of Russia’s invasion. Politicians from Europe and the U.S. vowed that Russia would one day be made to pay for the destruction — though officials acknowledged that day is some way off.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would give more than $1.3 billion in new aid, including more than $500 million to restore and improve Ukraine’s battered energy grid.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced 50 billion euros ($55 billion) in support through 2027, while Britain pledged 240 million pounds ($305 million) in aid and 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) in World Bank loan guarantees for Ukraine. Germany announced a further 381 million euros ($416 million) in humanitarian aid.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who addressed delegates by video, said his country needed action, not just pledges.
“We must move from vision to agreements and from agreements to real projects,” he said.
Zelenskyy, who is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union, urged Western leaders to have the “courage” to acknowledge that his country is already a key part of their economic and defense alliances.
“We are only waiting for the courage of the alliance leaders to recognize this reality, politically,” he said.
NATO leaders are expected to endorse Ukraine’s membership aspiration at a summit next month, but the alliance is wary of letting the country in while a war is raging.
Britain said Wednesday it would support NATO’s removing of an obstacle to Ukraine’s eventual membership by waiving the “membership action plan” that sets out reforms candidate nations must make before they can join the alliance. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland were offered NATO membership without taking that step.
U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said “many of the requirements of the membership action plan are actually being delivered” by Ukraine, including armed forces reform.
“I think the U.K.’s position will be very, very supportive if we moved on from the membership action plan,” he told reporters.
On EU membership, Von der Leyen said “I have no doubt that Ukraine will be part of our union,” but stressed that it must still meet conditions before it can start accession talks, including cutting corruption and reforming the judiciary.
She said such reforms would send “a powerful message” to investors that they will get the “transparency, fairness and the functioning institutions they need to invest in Ukraine.”
Blinken also highlighted the importance of anti-corruption efforts by Ukraine, a country long plagued by graft. He said some of the U.S. money will go toward upgrading ports and border infrastructure and digitizing customs procedures to cut rule-breaking
“The goal is to rebuild a Ukraine that is fit for (the) EU,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, whose country will host another recovery conference next year.
Many say Ukraine needs the equivalent of the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild Europe after World War II. Its infrastructure had been decimated by Russian attacks even before the collapse of the Kakhovka dam this month after an explosion flooded some 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of land and displaced thousands of people.
The conference aims to harness private-sector investment. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said BT, Virgin, Philips and Hyundai Engineering are among more than 400 companies from 38 countries that have committed to invest in Ukraine.
Sunak said Ukraine is a “huge investment opportunity” despite the mounting destruction from Russian attacks.
“In fact, the war has only proved how much Ukraine has to offer,” Sunak said, citing Ukraine’s tech sector, which had its best-ever year in 2022.
Sunak called for investment in technology and green energy to help build “a financially stronger, technologically advanced Ukraine.”
The U.K. also hopes the conference will make progress on setting up wartime risk insurance for companies investing in Ukraine, though it’s unclear how advanced the plans are.
At last year’s recovery conference in Switzerland, Ukraine called for billions in Russian assets frozen by Western countries since the invasion to be used for Ukraine’s recovery.
That is under discussion in several countries, and getting international agreement on a precedent-setting reparations move could prove tricky. Britain took a step in that direction this week, extending sanctions on Russia so that funds can be kept frozen until Ukraine gets compensation for the invasion.
Cleverly said “it is absolutely right to explore all legal paths, both domestically and internationally, to ensure that the message is said, not just to Vladimir Putin but to anyone else that is watching, that the international community will not allow acts of aggression like this to be perpetrated without appropriate levels of repercussions.”
Blinken said the principle was clear: “Russia is causing Ukraine’s destruction, and Russia will eventually bear the cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction.”
