The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking via a video link to attendees at a conference in Lugano, Switzerland, on Monday. Credit … Fabrice Coffrini / Agence France-Presse – Getty Images
For war-torn Ukrainians, the cost of the conflict is difficult to measure: thousands killed, countless missile-destroyed houses and buildings, displaced families, lost livelihoods. But international leaders are meeting in the Swiss city of Lugano, by the lake, for a second day on Tuesday to try to do so.
Leaders, along with aid organizations and financial institutions, are mapping out the monumental effort it will take to rebuild war-torn Ukraine.
Nearly five months of war have damaged crucial infrastructure (factories, airports, railway stations) and obliterated residential buildings, schools, hospitals, churches and shopping malls. And the bombs keep falling. The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said on Monday at a meeting in Lugano that the cost of reconstruction was estimated at $ 750 billion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned at the conference that the task of rebuilding the country would be “colossal.” The indiscriminate bombing of Russia was an attempt not only to destroy Ukraine, but also the vision of democracy and Europe, he said by video link, making the war “not just ours, not just a local one.”
“This is Russia’s attack on everything that is of value to you and to me,” he added. “Therefore, the reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project, it is not a project of a nation, but a joint task of the whole democratic world.”
He reiterated this message in his nightly speech in Ukraine.
Whatever the cost, Ukraine’s international allies will face a difficult struggle to help rebuild a former Soviet state with a culture of endemic corruption and fragile democratic institutions. Transparency International, an anti-corruption monitoring body, ranked Ukraine 117th out of 180 countries in its 2020 corruption index.
At the same time, while Ukraine would accept more promises of aid, many Western countries and their audiences suffer from war fatigue amid the spiral of inflation and food and gas prices. And it remains to be seen how far countries will be willing to go to help Ukraine when the war is finally over.
Earlier this year, donor pledges for Afghanistan and Yemen fell far short of the targets set by the United Nations. In Afghanistan, where Taliban policies have complicated aid efforts, the UN said $ 4.4 billion in humanitarian aid was needed this year alone, but $ 2.4 billion was raised. Of the $ 4.3 billion sought for Yemen, $ 1.3 billion was contributed.
Mr. Zelensky sent Mr. Shmyhal and other members of his cabinet in Lugano, a picturesque lakeside town, for two days of talks with a cast of international batsmen. Also present were the President of the Executive Arm of the European Union, Ursula van der Leyen, who described the reconstruction of Ukraine as “a generational task”, and the British Secretary of State, Liz Truss, along with senior officials. ‘Europe, North America and Asia. and representatives of major international financial institutions.
The meeting was planned long before the war as one of a series of conferences focused on the fight against corruption in Ukraine. But after Russia began its invasion on February 24, the focus shifted toward recovery. Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, also addressed the Lugano conference on Monday via video link and announced another meeting of first ladies and gentlemen from around the world on July 23rd. He held the group’s first summit last year in Kyiv, the capital.
“Any discussion about the post-war recovery in Ukraine does not make sense if it does not prioritize the recovery of people’s moral and physical health,” Ms. Zelenska in his speech Monday.
The Lugano meeting is still examining issues of governance and corruption, which have gained renewed prominence in recent weeks: when the European Union accepted Ukraine last month as a candidate for full membership, it said progress in corruption and the rule of law the request should be advanced.
But even before the conference began, several countries seemed willing to pledge financial support.
The UK said it will provide more than $ 1 billion for World Bank loans and tax support grants and guarantee World Bank loans for half a million dollars more, along with immediate support for landmine clearance and reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Vivek Shankar contributed to the reports.
– Dan Bilefsky and Nick Cumming-Bruce