As Russian drones and missiles rained down again on Ukrainian cities, Western officials and investors gathered in Italy to discuss how to rebuild the embattled country.
Two people were killed and 25 injured in the capital, Kyiv, while civilian areas were damaged in the July 10 attack that included about 400 drones and lasted nearly 10 hours. The barrage came a day after Russia fired more than 700 drones into Ukraine in the largest aerial attack since the war began in February 2022.
Speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome hours later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needed a large-scale reconstruction program similar to the Marshall Plan, the US initiative to rebuild Europe following World War II.
“Rebuilding Ukraine is not just about our country. It's also about your countries, your companies, your technology, your jobs," Zelenskyy told the audience, which included Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Russia has significantly stepped up its aerial bombardment of Ukraine this year, slowing investor appetite for new projects in the war-torn country, even as US President Donald Trump pushes Moscow to agree to a cease-fire.
More Deaths, More Destruction In Kyiv After Night Of Russian Strikes
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Trump last week during their sixth phone call since February that he intended to achieve his goals in Ukraine. Putin wants to bring the independent country once again under Moscow’s control.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov in Malaysia, where the two discussed the war in Ukraine. Rubio said the US is disappointed that Russia has not shown flexibility in talks.
In Rome, Merz said that rebuilding Ukraine would cost about $500 billion and that Russian central bank assets frozen in the West would continue to be used as collateral to back reconstruction loans.
Russia has targeted Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, especially its power grid, in an attempt to demoralize the population, something that has not happened. Factories and housing have also been extensively damaged.
Merz said that Germany was ready to purchase a Patriot air defense system from the US and supply it to Ukraine. Zelenskyy has been seeking more air defense systems and missiles from the West to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian bombardment.
The U.K. and Ukraine were expected to sign a deal at the conference for the supply of thousands of Thales air defense missiles to Ukraine over the next two decades.
Trump earlier this week rescinded a Pentagon decision to halt the delivery of Patriot missiles and other weapons for Ukraine approved by the administration of former President Joe Biden.
In explaining his decision, Trump said that Russia was hitting Ukraine hard from the air.
In his speech to the conference, Zelenskyy called on the West to tighten sanctions on Russia to force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. Trump has not imposed any new sanctions on Russia this year, allowing Moscow to set up new shell companies to get around existing export bans.
Trump said he is studying a new sanctions bill submitted by Senators Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democrat-Connecticut).
The bill would impose sanctions and tariffs on countries that support Russia’s war effort in addition to targeting Russia’s banking system.
