Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Wednesday called for a “permanent working group” to finance his country at “different levels” for the duration of the war with Russia.
“It would be good to create a permanent working group that would provide financial assistance to Ukraine and work in a timely manner at different levels,” he has proposed via videoconference during a roundtable at the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington.
Zelensky explained that such financial support could follow the model of the defense format known as Ramstein, with which the international community coordinates the delivery of armaments and military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukrinform agency reports.
According to the Ukrainian president, such a plan would help “international donors” to organize themselves together. An idea that IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva hopes to implement “as soon as possible”, reports DPA agency.
Among the demands that Zelenski has put on the table this Wednesday in this forum is also the delivery of individual loans of up to 2,000 million dollars for the reconstruction of civil infrastructures, such as those of the electricity supply that have been damaged after the recent Russian bombardments on several Ukrainian cities, among them Kiev.
In parallel to these demands, the G7 finance ministers assured that their respective countries intend to continue funding Ukraine next year, to ensure access to basic services and address civilian infrastructure deficiencies damaged in the war.
In addition to military and humanitarian support, $20.7 billion worth of aid has already been provided and a total of $33.3 billion has been pledged for this year.