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Reconstruction of Ukraine is a "common task" of the democratic world, Zelensky says

04 July 2022 20:18 (UTC +04:00)

The reconstruction of Ukraine is a "common task" of the democratic world, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday during the opening statement at the "Ukraine Recovery Conference" in Lugano, Switzerland – a two-day conference looking to set a roadmap for the reconstruction of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, APA reports citing CNN.

"The reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project. It's not a project of one nation, but a common task of the entire democratic world, all countries who can say that they are civilized," Zelensky said in the virtual address.
The Ukrainian president also said that restoring his country means restoring the principle of life, "restoring the space of life, restoring everything that makes humans human."

This reconstruction also implies "an opportunity for our countries and our companies and our specialists to show why freedom is mightier than any tyranny," he added.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced on Monday that the European Union has proposed setting up a reconstruction platform to help the Ukrainian government rebuild the country after the war with Russia.

“The European Commission has proposed to the government of Ukraine to set up a reconstruction platform to map investment needs, to coordinate action, to channel resources and, of course, in support of an ambitious reform agenda," Von der Leyen said during the opening ceremony of the Ukraine recovery conference.

"This platform will be the place to shape strategic orientations and priorities for our common work,” she added.

Von der Leyen also said the platform will “focus on future-proof reconstruction, moving towards climate neutrality, embracing the digital decade [and] building a social market economy that leaves no one behind.”

She went on to say that the Kremlin's aim is to “undermine Ukraine’s very existence as a state,” the "the military, political and economic destruction" of the country and that the European Union “will never let that happen."

Von der Leyen added that the EU has already mobilized 6.2 billion euros in financial support and that “more has to come and more will come.”