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World Leaders Pledge $1 Billion in Immediate Aid for Ukraine

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HR King
May 29, 2001
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In the latest attempt to buoy Ukraine through what is already a brutal winter, international leaders have announced the immediate delivery of around 1 billion euros to repair electricity supplies, water systems, roads and health centers pummeled by Russian strikes.

“It’s tangible proof Ukraine is not alone,” President Emmanuel Macron of France said on Tuesday at the opening of a one-day summit in Paris. He was flanked by Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s prime minister, and Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady. Leaders and diplomats from about 50 countries also attended.

“The fight you are waging is a fight for your freedom, your sovereignty,” Mr. Macron said. “But it is also a fight for the international order and for the stability of all of us.”

The Paris conference was the latest in a series of international meetings focused on the current and future reconstruction of Ukraine. On Monday, leaders from the Group of 7 wealthy democracies met virtually to agree a new system of funneling funds to Kyiv, and the European Union’s foreign ministers met in Brussels, pledging another 2 billion euros for military support. Weeks before, the United States pledged $53 million to rebuild Ukraine’s electricity grid at a NATO meeting in Bucharest.

What makes Tuesday’s conference and announcements different, organizers said, was the timeline. The 1 billion euros (around $1 billion) raised will be delivered between now and the end of March to meet Ukraine’s short-term needs. One criticism of previous aid pledges has been the length of time for delivery.

Attendees on Tuesday included diplomats outside of the regular invitees and donors, from a list drawn up by France and Ukrainian leaders. They included ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey, Kuwait and Oman.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking from Ukraine at the conference’s opening via video feed, said that reversing the extensive damage to his country’s energy infrastructure would cost about 800 million euros ($840 million) and warned that Russia was likely to “intensify its attacks” during the winter.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at the conference via video link on Tuesday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke at the conference via video link on Tuesday.Credit...Pool photo by Teresa Suarez
Officials gathered at the Paris meeting pledged to support Ukraine for the long haul, and reiterated that Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure amounted to war crimes.

“I’m not the biggest at the table,” said Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg, committing €4 million in immediate aid. “But you can count on us. We are with you.”

The Swiss Parliament approved the immediate disbursal of 100 million Swiss Francs ($107 million), said President Ignazio Cassis of Switzerland, and Mr. Macron committed €76.5 million in immediate assistance from France, in addition to €48.5 million already pledged.

The French leader also announced the creation of the “Paris mechanism” — a platform designed to ensure that donors coordinate urgent deliveries and match them to Ukrainian needs. Hubs of warehouses in Poland and several other countries will collect international donations, including generators and heat pumps, that can be swiftly shuttled into Ukraine.

A new body to coordinate international economic and reconstruction aid — similar the one operating for months to organize military aid — could meet for the first time as soon as January.

For Mr. Macron, the event offered an opportunity to demonstrate European leadership and to assuage recent tensions with the Ukrainian government, after he said last week that an “essential point” in any peace talks on the war should be how to provide security guarantees to Russia. On Tuesday, Mr. Macron said, “it’s up to Ukraine, the victim of his aggression, to decide the conditions of a just and enduring peace.”

 
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