The EU will create a platform aiming to reconstruct Ukraine

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Posted by: Cornelia Stefoglu

News / International

05 July 2022 / 07:50

The EU will create a platform aiming to reconstruct Ukraine

The European Union is going to create a platform to coordinate the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war with Russia, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while President Volodymyr Zelenski said that the reconstruction of Ukraine is "the common task of the whole democratic world." According to the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denis Smigal, the costs of this reconstruction are estimated at about $750 billion, according to digi24.ro.

The statements were made at a conference dedicated to the reconstruction of Ukraine, which is taking place in the Swiss city of Lugano, Reuters and AFP reports, quoted by Agerpres.

The platform announced by Ursula von der Leyen will be used to outline investment needs, coordinate action and focus resources. "Since the beginning of the war, the EU has mobilized around 6.2 billion euros in financial assistance" for Ukraine and "more (funds) will come. We will engage in a substantial reconstruction in the medium and long term," promised the president of the European Commission.

On that platform, there will be countries, institutions, the private sector and civil society. The European Investment Bank has proposed the creation of a fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine worth about 100 billion euros, based on the European post-COVID recovery plan.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smigal, present at the Swiss conference, estimated the cost of a recovery plan for his country after the Russian invasion at about $750 billion, stressing that only the direct costs of infrastructure damage from Russian aggression are up to currently over $100 billion.

In a video address to Ukrainian allies and international institutions meeting in Lugano, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "rebuilding Ukraine is the common task of the entire democratic world" and "the most important contribution to world peace."

For her part, Ursula von der Leyen also said that "the Kremlin's goal is the military, political and economic destruction of Ukraine." "They want to undermine the fundamental existence of Ukraine as a state. We cannot and will not allow this to happen," she added.

On the same day that Russia occupied the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysichyansk and nearly ended the conquest of Lugansk province, President Zelenski also said in an online speech to Japanese students at a university in Tokyo that "if they lay down their arms, Ukraine will cease to exist."

"Ukraine has its land and its sovereignty, and we are fighting for peace. This is a paradox of the 21st century, that if we lay down our arms, Ukraine will disappear and cease to exist," Zelenski was quoted as saying by Agerpres.

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