Prime Minister: What Russia Can't Conquer, It‘s Turning to Rubble – We Must Give Ukraine All the Weapons it Needs and Help Rebuild the Country
At this year's annual Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Berlin, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė participated in the opening session of the event, the closed roundtable discussion of Heads of State and Government, and delivered a national address at the conference, where she presented Lithuania's support to Ukraine.
"Having realised that it will not be able to defeat Ukraine on the battlefield, Russia is seeking to bury Ukraine's future in the rubble. Today, Ukrainians lack neither the will to defend themselves, the will to rebuild what has been lost, nor the will to work for a prosperous, European future for Ukraine. We must be clear about the overriding objective: Ukraine must win and Russia must lose, and receive justice in the International Tribunal. This requires our support, our determination to pursue Ukraine's victory, and our tangible contribution to the reconstruction work of a future EU and NATO Member State fighting not only for its freedom but also for European and Euro-Atlantic values," said Prime Minister Šimonytė.
The Head of the Lithuanian Government stressed that the "red lines" we have drawn ourselves, limiting our support to Ukraine, must disappear and that Ukrainians must receive all the necessary military assistance in time to achieve victory. Meanwhile, Ukraine's reconstruction must take place now, contributing to the provision of essential civilian needs, the reconstruction of energy and education infrastructure, and the physical and psychological rehabilitation and reintegration of Ukrainian defenders.
At the event, the Prime Minister stressed the need to confiscate and use for Ukrainian purposes all frozen and immobilised Russian assets, which would be a just and reasonable decision. She welcomed the decisions to earmark the profits from these assets for Ukraine, but stressed that while this was the right thing to do, it is only a first step towards the goal.
During her national statement, Ms Šimonytė reviewed Lithuania's support to Ukraine, inviting other partner countries to join in the reconstruction process, which cannot be delayed.
Lithuania's bilateral support to Ukraine amounts to EUR 1.2 billion, and together with Lithuanian support through the EU it represents 2% of the country's GDP.
Lithuania was one of the first countries to get involved in Ukraine's reconstruction process, with the first bilateral projects approved by the Government in August 2022. Today, among the initiatives that have been successfully completed and are ongoing are the reconstruction of education and training institutions in Kyiv and Mykolaiv regions, technical and financial support for the reconstruction of the energy infrastructure, the creation of rehabilitation and reintegration infrastructure for wounded soldiers and other war victims in Ukraine, shelters in schools and other works, reminded the Lithuanian Prime Minister.
It is also very important that Ukrainians who have left the country because of the war have the opportunity to return and engage in reconstruction processes, which is the focus of the Create Ukraine programme, launched together with the European Commission and Ukrainian partners, and based on the successful model of the Create for Lithuania.
The Ukraine Recovery Conference is an international format for supporting Ukraine. Until Russia's large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, it functioned as the Ukraine Reform Conference, which was also held in Lithuania in 2021.