Ukraine's allies launch new $1.17bn reconstruction fund

Rome [Italy], July 11: Kiev's European partners launched a reconstruction fund to help rebuild war-torn Ukraine at an international conference in Rome on Thursday. The fund, which will also be supported by the private sector, is to be used primarily to repair and rebuild the country's energy infrastructure, which has been ravaged by more than three and a half years of war. In addition, the money can be used to support industrial companies and digital data centres.
Germany said the new fund, supported by Berlin, Italy, Poland, France and the European Commission, will initially comprise €1 billion ($1.17 billion).
Representatives from around 60 countries, as well as international organizations and private companies, are participating in the two-day meeting in the Italian capital. The Rome meeting is the fourth Ukraine recovery conference since February 2022. According to official figures, the four conferences to date have mobilized more than €16 billion.
Speaking at the conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international "coalition for recovery" to help rebuild Ukraine. He renewed his request for a Marshall Plan for Ukraine, modelled on the massive investment provided by the United States for Germany and other countries after World War II.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merztold Zelensky: "Our support for your country is unwavering." Merz also sent a message to US President Donald Trump at the conference, who has made a series of U-turns on his Ukraine policy since returning to the White House in January. "Stay with us and stay with the Europeans. We are on the same page. And we are looking for a stable political order in this world," Merz said.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are not attending the conference in person. However, Starmer said in London on Thursday that European plans for a peacekeeping force to aid Ukraine once the war ends are now "mature" after months of planning.
French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile described the so-called coalition of the willing as "ready to go" once a ceasefire is agreed.
Under the coalition plans, troops from France and the UK would be placed in Ukraine, while other countries would provide logistical support, all with the aim of deterring further Russian aggression. European leaders have insisted the arrangement would be dependent upon a US "security guarantee," likely in the form of air support, something President Donald Trump has been unwilling to openly say he would provide. Starmer and Macron dialled into a call with allies who make up the coalition from the UK's military headquarters at Northwood in London.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Zelensky joined the call from the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome.
Repairing the damage done by more than three years of war will cost more than $1 trillion over a 14-year period, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the conference in Rome by video link. Ukraine was looking into the creation of two funds to the amount of around $1 trillion. One fund administered by Kiev should be financed by Russian assets seized abroad for $540 billion, and a second for $460 billion would come from private investors, he said.
Meanwhile,the number of Ukrainian civilians killed or injured in Russian attacks reached its highest level in three years in June, according to the United Nations, a report from Kiev said.
Source: Qatar Tribune