Today we show our continued support for Ukraine
said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Countries, organisations, companies and banks are among the donors who have helped to raise this sum during this conference organized by Poland and Sweden with the participation of the European Union (EU).
When Russia brings death, the countries of the free world must help and I think this conference here in Warsaw has shown a huge dose of solidarity among us.
Among these donations, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has pledged to provide 200 million euros (about 270 million Canadian dollars) for the internally displaced in Ukraine.
” Today, we have gathered with a clear objective: to support the courageous people of Ukraine, who are fighting the aggressor and defending their freedom. »
Ukraine needs about 12,000 tonnes of food and humanitarian aid each day, but is currently receiving 3,000 tonnes, estimates the Polish Prime Minister. He adds that 40% of Ukrainians depend on this humanitarian aid at the moment, according to NGOs on the ground.
Ukraine has received more than 12 billion euros (more than 16 billion Canadian dollars) in weapons and money since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmydal said.
Confiscate assets of sanctioned Russians to rebuild Ukraine
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, meanwhile pleaded for the confiscation of Russian assets frozen in theEU as part of the sanctions in order to make them available
for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
I am absolutely convinced that it is extremely important not only to freeze the assets, but also to make possible their confiscation, in order to make them available for the country which is rebuilding itself.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council spoke for the first time on the “confiscation” of sanctioned Russian assets.
Photo: Getty Images/AFP/FRANCISCO SECO
US President Joe Biden asked Congress at the end of April to give him the possibility of confiscating the assets of Russian oligarchs stranded in the United States to use them for the benefit of Ukraine. Canada is on the same line.
An opinion has been requested from the legal service of the European Council on the feasibility of such a measure, as there are 27 legal systems in the European Union and in many EU member states, a decision by a court is necessary
explains Charles Michel.
It is a difficult and long process
he acknowledges.
Zelensky calls for Ukraine to join theEU
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also participated by videoconference and called for immediately grant Ukraine candidate status
at theEU.
” Ukraine’s EU membership must be absolute reality, not just a promise or a prospect »
He also called for the preparation of a reconstruction plan based on the model of the Marshall plan after the Second World War.
An idea shared by Charles Michel: I see three priorities in this conference and three objectives. The first is humanitarian aid, the second is money, the third is reconstruction
.
It is important to ensure that the Ukrainian authorities will be able, in the days and weeks to come, to have the money they need to achieve [ces objectifs].
This conference should be, in my opinion, the starting point of a kind of European Marshall Plan for Ukraine
he concluded.
The Marshall Plan is an American program of loans granted to several European countries in 1947 to help with reconstruction after the Second World War.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca