Germany, EU launch work on 'new Marshall Plan' for Ukraine

BERLIN (AP) — German and European Union leaders gathered experts Tuesday to start work on what Germany's chancellor described as a “new Marshall Plan” for the rebuilding of Ukraine.

The Marshall Plan was a U.S.-sponsored initiative that helped revive western European economies after World War II.

A one-day conference in Berlin was convened to discuss “how to ensure and how to sustain the financing of the recovery, reconstruction and modernization of Ukraine for years and decades to come,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

Scholz, who co-hosted the meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said he’s looking at “nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st century -- a generational task that must begin now.”

Von der Leyen said the World Bank puts the cost of damage to Ukraine so far at 350 billion euros ($345 billion). The EU decided in June to make Ukraine a candidate to join the bloc, and needs “to firmly embed Ukraine's reconstruction efforts as part of its path toward the European Union,” she said.

In addition to longer-term help, “Ukraine needs fast rehabilitation right now as we speak” as Russia targets Ukrainian electricity and other infrastructure ahead of the onset of the winter, von der Leyen said. She called those “pure acts of terror.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that point in a video address from Kyiv. He told the Berlin conference participantsthat Ukraine has a $17 billion “fast recovery” plan to repair damage to hospitals, schools, transportation and energy infrastructure, and other structures.

“As of now, we haven’t received a single cent for the implementation of the fast recovery plan,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.

Scholz underlined Germany's commitment to keep supplying...