(ANSA) - WASHINGTON, 11 MAY - "Ukraine needs a Marshall plan for reconstruction": Prime Minister Mario Draghi proposed it, receiving the politician of the year award from the Atlantic Council in Washington.
"We must continue - underlined Draghi - to support the courage of the Ukrainians, who are fighting for their freedom and for the safety of all of us. We must continue to inflict costs on Russia, moving quickly with our latest package of sanctions. But we must also do everything possible to do so. achieve a ceasefire and lasting peace.
It will be up to the Ukrainians to decide the terms of this peace - and no one else.
In the meantime, we must prepare for the world we will live in tomorrow.
We must be ready to continue to be with Ukraine long after the war is over.
The education of its cities, its industrial plants, its fields will require enormous financial support.
Ukraine will need a Marshall Plan, just like the one that contributed to the special relations between Europe and the United States.
And we will have to ensure that its democratic institutions remain strong, stable, vibrant.
Ukraine is our friend.
Ukraine will remain our friend. "
"I want to share this award with the government, with Italy and with the Italians - then said the premier -. Italy has experienced very difficult moments with the Covid pandemic and it is on the rise".
"This is Europe's time and we must embrace it," he said again.
"The choices facing the EU - he explained - are brutally simple. We can be architects of our destiny or slaves to the decisions of others. What makes me optimistic is that we are not alone. In a moment of profound change, some things remain the same: the close relationship between the EU and the US, the timeless bond that strengthens both ".
(HANDLE).
