Russia-Ukraine war: West pledges billions in aid to Kyiv

June 21: The United Kingdom, United States and European Union have pledged billions of dollars more help to Kyiv as a London conference focused on rebuilding efforts is underway.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the support but cautions Western nations should move from agreement to real projects. “We must move from agreement to real projects, there is a Ukrainian delegation that will present concrete things, and we propose to do them together during my tour", said Zelenskyy.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that the United States will give Ukraine more than $3.1 billion in aid to help overhaul its energy grid and modernise infrastructure.

“Recovery is about laying the foundation for Ukraine to thrive as a secure, independent country, fully integrated with Europe, connected to markets around the world,” Blinken told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, “With the support of the US Congress, we will provide more than $1.3 billion in additional aid to help Ukraine toward that goal.” The new aid comes on top of more than $20 billion in economic and development assistance the US has provided to Ukraine, Blinken added.

“We are only waiting for the courage of the [NATO and EU] alliance leaders to recognise [Ukraine is already a key part of their economic and defence alliances]”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said via video link at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London on Wednesday, "Ukraine could be the largest source of economic, industrial and technological growth in Europe for decades and decades."

(BBC/Al Jazeera)