While the European Union should play a leading role in Ukraine’s pursuit of accession, all parties are called upon to join forces in this process, the Swiss foreign minister stressed on Tuesday, according to a speech at the conference hosted by the European Commission and the German G7 presidency.
The European Political Community, which met for the first time in Prague on Oct. 6 with the participation of Switzerland, could play a supporting role, Cassis said.
While Switzerland strictly adheres to its neutrality, it is not indifferent but is committed, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) wrote in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Switzerland’s humanitarian aid in Ukraine is based on the needs of those in need, which is crucial with the approaching winter.
The Federal President visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Kiev last week and got a sense of the devastation wrought by Russian attacks. In Berlin, Cassis praised the courage and courage of the Ukrainian people.
But non-European states and multilateral organizations also have a role to play in Ukraine’s reconstruction, said de Ticino, who emphasized trust as a key element, both between Ukraine and its international partners and between Ukrainians and their authorities.
Cassis recalled that the “first phase” and the seven principles for rebuilding war-torn Ukraine were laid down at the Lugano conference in July.
As the “Lugano Declaration” states, Ukraine and its people are “in control,” the FDFA head stressed. The roles and responsibilities of the various Ukrainian authorities and civil society also need to be clarified. “You can count on us,” concluded the Federal President.
Reconstruction will be a “big, big task,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who hosted the opening of the conference in Berlin, said organizers said. You will have to invest a lot to make it work properly. Ukraine cannot do this alone, and neither can the European Union. Only the entire world community can do that.
The international community has been supporting Ukraine for months. So far, the G7 countries, the European Union and its members have raised more than CHF 35 billion in emergency aid alone.
The international community has imposed strict sanctions on Russia, supplied Ukraine with arms, supported Ukraine’s economy and hosted millions of refugees in many countries.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military attack on Ukraine. Since then, numerous Russian war crimes committed against the Ukrainian civilian population have become known. The material damage to buildings and infrastructure across the country alone is estimated at several hundred billion Swiss francs after eight months.
In an essay written in the summer of 2021, Putin denied that neighboring Ukraine to the south had the right to exist as a state and emphasized that Ukrainians and Russians are one people. The Kremlin in Moscow also accuses Ukrainian leaders of opening the door to NATO’s western military alliance to threaten Russia with imminent further expansion to the east.
(SDA)