For Ukrainians living through the war, the cost is hard to measure: thousands of people killed, countless homes and buildings destroyed by missiles, families displaced, livelihoods lost. But international leaders were gathering in the lakeside Swiss town of Lugano for a second day on Tuesday in an attempt to do just that.
The leaders, joined by aid organisations and financial institutions, are mapping out the monumental effort it will take to rebuild war-battered Ukraine.
Firefighters dig through the rubble of a school building destroyed by a missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Monday.Credit:AP
Nearly five months of war has damaged crucial infrastructure — factories, airports, railway stations — and obliterated residential buildings, schools, hospitals, churches and shopping malls. And the bombs continue to fall. Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, told those assembled in Lugano the cost of rebuilding was estimated at $US750 billion (nearly $1.1 trillion).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned the conference that the task of rebuilding the country would be “colossal”. Russia’s indiscriminate shelling was an attempt not just 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 me,” he added. “Therefore, the reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project, not a project of one nation, but a joint task of the entire democratic world.”
Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, left, introduces Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, delivering a speech by video, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, in Lugano on Monday.Credit:Keystone/AP
Whatever the cost, his international allies will face an uphill struggle to help reconstruct a former Soviet state with a culture of endemic corruption and fragile democratic institutions. Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog, ranked Ukraine 117th out of 180 countries on its corruption index in 2020.
At the same time, while more pledges of aid would be welcomed by Ukraine, many Western countries and their populations are suffering from war fatigue amid spiralling 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 finally ends.
This year, donor pledges for Afghanistan and Yemen fell far short of targets set by the United Nations. In Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s policies have complicated aid efforts, the UN said $US4.4 billion was needed this year in humanitarian aid alone, but $US2.4 billion was raised. Of the $US4.3 billion sought for Yemen, $US1.3 billion was contributed.
Zelensky sent Shmyhal and other members of his cabinet to Lugano, a picturesque lakeside town, for two days of talks with a cast of international heavy hitters. Also in attendance were the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who called the rebuilding of Ukraine “a generational task”, and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, along with senior officials from Europe, North America and Asia and representatives of major international financial institutions.
Swiss President of the National Council Irene Kaelin, Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, and others during the Ukraine Recovery Conference.Credit:Keystone/AP
The meeting was planned long before the war as one in a series of conferences focused on tackling corruption in Ukraine. But after Russia began its invasion February 24, the focus shifted to recovery. The first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, also addressed the Lugano conference by video link on Monday and announced another meeting of first ladies and gentlemen from around the world on July 23. She held the first summit of the group last year in Kyiv, the capital.
“Any discussions about the post-war recovery of Ukraine do not make sense if they do not prioritise the recovery of people’s moral and physical health,” Zelenska said.
The Lugano meeting is still looking at issues of governance and corruption, which have taken on a renewed prominence. When the European Union accepted Ukraine last month as a candidate for full membership, it said that progress on corruption and the rule of law would be required to advance the application.
But even before the conference got underway, a number of countries seemed ready to promise financial support.
Britain said it would provide more than $US1 billion for World Bank loans and fiscal support grants and guarantee World Bank loans for a further $US500 million, along with immediate support for land-mine clearance and rebuilding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
When Zelensky welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Kyiv this week, he said he had suggested to Albanese that Australia “join the postwar rebuilding process of Ukraine”.
“I am grateful for [Australia’s] decision to join the process. It is important for us, it is important for the whole world,” he said.
Australia has so far committed $390 million to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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