The Lugano Conference will attempt on Monday June 4 and Tuesday June 5 to draw the outlines of the future reconstruction of Ukraine, where Russia has continued to wage a destructive war for more than four months.
The “
task is really colossal
” if only in the liberated territories, recognized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, whose Swiss hosts hoped to come in person but who will participate – as he is now used to – by videoconference. .
And "
we need to liberate 2,000 villages and towns in eastern and southern Ukraine
", he added, in a conflict whose outcome remains uncertain despite substantial military and financial aid from the allies of the Ukraine.
'Ukraine.
Read alsoIn Ukraine, the agony of the Zolotchiv hospital, constantly bombarded: discover the report by our special correspondent
Its Prime Minister, Denys Schmigal, arrived there on Sunday accompanied by the President of Parliament, Rouslan Stefantchouk, in a Swiss Air Force aircraft.
The two men were welcomed by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis.
In total, the Ukrainian delegation will number around a hundred people to meet political leaders, international institutions and representatives of the private sector.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, whose country has just taken over the EU Presidency for six months, and her counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland, the country hosting far the most Ukrainian refugees will be in Lugano to draw the outline of a kind of “Marshall Plan”, named after the American economic program which had made it possible to raise Western Europe from the ruins of the Second World War.
The conference had been planned long before Russia invaded the country and was initially to discuss reforms in Ukraine and in particular the fight against endemic corruption before being reoriented towards reconstruction.