Deadly attack hits city still reeling from dam disaster
Western allies raised nearly $66 billion for Ukraine’s economic recovery and stability at a two-day donor conference hosted by the British government that concluded on Thursday.
“Ukraine will rebuild. But they can’t do it alone,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a speech closing the conference. “So together, as governments, as international organizations, as companies, as representatives of civil society, we have shown Ukraine and the Ukrainian people that we stand with them.”
At the conference, Britain pledged $305 million in direct economic aid to Ukraine and $3 billion in World Bank loan guarantees for the country over the next few years. The funds will help Ukraine regain macroeconomic stability, Mr Cleverly said.
In addition, the United States announced $1.3 billion in new economic aid to overhaul Ukraine’s badly damaged energy infrastructure and modernize its ports, railways and border crossings.
Still, Mr Cleverly’s number of new aid includes the European Union’s previously announced aid $54 billion package to rebuild Ukraine, which has not yet received approval from all 27 member countries. And it falls well short of the $411 billion the World Bank needs to rebuild the country, with $14 billion needed this year to rebuild key infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal spoke about the steps needed for his country’s recovery, both in the short and long term. He said Ukraine is still seeking about $6.5 billion in additional aid to rebuild key infrastructure in the coming year. “We have set an ambitious goal to secure pledges of this amount as a result of this conference,” he said.
Leaders at the meeting talked about the idea of using confiscated Russian public and private assets — estimated to be worth at least $300 billion — to help pay for rebuilding costs. Britain and the European Union are exploring legal ways to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
In his speech, Mr Shmyhal said Ukraine was preparing mechanisms to claim the frozen Russian assets.
“One of the main questions we are constantly confronted with is who will pay the hundreds of billions for the recovery,” said Mr Shmyhal. “First of all, Russia must pay for what it destroyed.”
Mark Landler reporting contributed.