Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has announced plans for a "reconstruction offensive" to counter Moscow's war against Ukraine at the start of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, reported dpa.
The foreign minister promised another €381 million in aid this year, to be used, for example, to provide generators, food and tents.
Since the beginning of the Russian war in February 2022, German aid to Kiev has amounted to €16.8 billion.
In the long term, however, money is not enough, Baerbock added. "We are helping Ukraine to invest in renewable energies and energy efficiency," said Baerbock, who is from the German Green Party.
In this way, she said, Ukraine's reconstruction could be shaped in a green and thus lasting and sustainable way.
Earlier at the conference, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $1.3 billion in additional funding for Ukraine, of which $520 million alone is earmarked for repairing Ukraine's energy grid to make it cleaner and more resilient.
Together with energy market reforms, this could make Ukraine a major energy exporter, Blinken said.
Ukraine's reconstruction is going to be a "colossal challenge," Baerbock said in a statement released by the German Foreign Office on Wednesday, shortly before the start of the conference.
"In 2022 alone, Ukraine lost 29% of its gross domestic product, with inflation as high as 27%," the minister said. The World Bank expects reconstruction to cost more than $400 billion over the next decade.
"Germany's support is rock solid, today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Because for lasting peace, it is not enough for Ukraine to win the war — we want it to become part of the European peace and prosperity project," she said.
Britain, which is co-hosting the conference with Ukraine this year, is relying heavily on promoting private investment in the country in addition to direct aid. According to the British government, hundreds of international companies have already signalled their intention to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Among them are many German companies, which are still active in Ukraine despite the war, Baerbock said. Berlin is lending support to this through national investment guarantees.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that a framework for a war risk insurance covered by the G7 countries is to be created at the conference, to offer private companies more security.
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
