Associated PressBERLIN — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for short-term help in repairing his country's electricity network and long-term investment in its energy system as a conference to gather support for Ukraine's recovery from the destruction wreaked by Russia's war opened Tuesday.
The two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin follows up on a similar gathering in London a year ago. Zelenskyy told the conference that, in the coming month, Ukraine needs equipment for heating and electricity plants that are currently out of action."This will allow us to respond to the situation here and now," he said.
"Ukraine has all the natural foundations for modern energy, but without your financing and investments, we won't be able to realize this," he said. "The reconstruction of Ukraine is and also must be a business case," Scholz told participants. He said that is illustrated by Ukraine having exported excess electricity to the European Union since 2022 —"that makes clear what goes for the reconstruction of Ukraine as a whole: it benefits all concerned."
The Berlin conference also focuses on support for reforms that Ukraine has embarked on in its bid to join the EU.