U.S., West pledge billions for Ukraine reconstruction
The U.S. will send an additional $1.3 billion in aid to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London on June 21. (Video: Reuters)
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LONDON — The United States and European countries on Wednesday announced billions of dollars in new recovery assistance to Ukraine aimed at addressing the staggering destruction wrought by Russia’s invasion. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The pledges, made at a two-day gathering of world leaders in London, added to the already unprecedented outpouring of Western support for Ukraine. But they amounted to only a small fraction of the $411 billion that the World Bank estimates is needed to rebuild the country.
The European Union will provide $54.5 billion in aid for 2024 through 2027, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. “Brick by brick, house by house, school by school, together we are with Ukraine for the long haul,” she said. She did not specify whether the aid would be grants or loans.
The United States will provide an additional $1.3 billion in the near term, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, bringing U.S. contributions to Kyiv since Russia invaded to $64.3 billion. “The United States will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes — and that includes being by Ukraine’s side as it recovers from this catastrophic Russian aggression,” he said.
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Britain said it would provide guarantees for $3 billion worth of World Bank loans to help with the rebuilding.
While the West has sought to reassure Ukraine that the country will be rebuilt and that Russia will be made to pay compensation, the war — and the destruction of the country — continues. It is unclear when Ukraine will be able to start large-scale reconstruction, and so far there are no clear legal mechanisms to seize Russian funds.
“It’s clear Russia must pay for the destruction that they’ve inflicted,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. “So we’re working with allies to explore lawful routes to use Russian assets.”
Britain, long a haven for Russian oligarchs’ wealth, has faced pressure to revise its laws to allow those assets to be seized to fund Ukraine’s recovery. A senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the government should confiscate oligarchs’ mansions, country estates and Britain-based assets to help pay for the reconstruction.
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“It must be Russia which is held accountable and must pay,” Vladyslav Vlasiuk, a sanctions expert working for Zelensky, told British media this week. “Assets which are here in the U.K. and other jurisdictions are easily accessible. We would like to see those confiscated and sent to Ukraine for reconstruction.”
Blinken also backed holding Russia accountable for the reconstruction costs. “Russia is causing Ukraine’s destruction,” he said, “and Russia will eventually bear the cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction.”
Britain this year announced it had frozen roughly $22 billion in Russian assets and was considering seizing them.
Blinken flew to London from Beijing, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping in two days of talks he described as “candid, substantive and constructive.”
Blinken said he welcomed China’s involvement in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine — a prospect that has fueled speculation about China playing a role in Ukraine’s reconstruction, given its massive capacity to finance and oversee infrastructure projects.
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China has already played a role in building parts of Kyiv’s metro network and has supported infrastructure projects around the world, in part because they create jobs for Chinese workers, boost the Chinese economy and spread Beijing’s influence. However, the United States and other European countries view China as an economic and security competitor, and they remain concerned that its projects come at the expense of the client countries’ sovereignty.
Zelensky, who spoke at the event via a video feed, thanked Western countries for their pledges. Ukrainian forces are in the early stages of a counteroffensive aimed at retaking territory captured by Russia. In an interview this week with the BBC, Zelensky acknowledged that battlefield success has been “slower than desired,” but said Western backers should be realistic.
“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now,” he said. “It’s not.”
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Ukraine’s military says it has recaptured eight villages in the past two weeks, but progress has been difficult in the face of minefields and intense air and artillery attacks. Zelensky said the counteroffensive has been hampered by Russian minefields covering some 77,000 square miles of Ukrainian territory.
“Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best,” Zelensky said.
While some Western officials hope a successful counteroffensive could lead to a negotiation to end the war and begin reconstruction, many doubt Russia will accept anything less than Ukraine’s full capitulation. Moscow has repeatedly called on Kyiv to accept what it calls the “new realities,” meaning its claims to have annexed five regions of Ukraine, four of which it does not fully control. Kyiv insists on Russia’s complete withdrawal.
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Blinken said support for Ukraine’s recovery must be paired with support for Ukraine’s military.
“Make no mistake, all of these reform and recovery efforts depend on Ukraine having the capacity to deter and defend against future attacks by Russia,” he said. “That is why, even as we invest in Ukraine’s immediate and long-term recovery, we must also build a Ukrainian military that is strong enough to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. Not just to defend Ukraine’s land, but all that Ukrainians are building — and will build — on that land.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Ukraine had suffered heavy losses and had no chance of success, “and they understand this.” But he said Kyiv had not yet exhausted its offensive potential.
Russian officials and analysts have argued that, as a nuclear power, Russia “cannot lose” the war against Ukraine. In a speech to military graduates in Moscow, Putin said Russia would soon deploy the first of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, calling Russia’s nuclear weapons “a key guarantee of Russia’s military security and global stability.”
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“Already about half of the units and formations of the Strategic Missile Forces are equipped with the latest Yars systems, and the troops are being re-equipped with modern missile systems with the Avangard hypersonic warhead,” Putin said.
He acknowledged that there remained work to be done on other military components, but said Moscow would continue to improve advanced armored vehicles, missile strike systems and aircraft, air defense and electronic warfare systems.
Dixon reported from Riga, Latvia.
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Source: The Washington Post
