By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The French Embassy in Kuwait held a press conference on Sunday to announce a reconstruction conference that will be held in Paris to support Ukraine. French Ambassador to Kuwait Claire Le Flecher said Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction will require a massive and sustained effort, adding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and civilian population bring with them a serious risk of a new humanitarian crisis as winter approaches.

“Russia’s strikes on the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine damaged more than 40 percent of infrastructure. This will lead to increased Ukraine’s reliance on international support,” she said. “A high-level conference in support of Ukraine will be held in Paris on December 13. The conference aims to identify practical responses to address the winter emergency. It will also seek to establish a working method to bring together Ukraine and the donors to ensure consistency between Ukraine’s needs and the international community’s support capabilities.”

The French ambassador revealed that nearly 70 high-level participants representing Ukraine, main partners and international organizations will attend the first period of the conference, while later almost 500 companies will be present to share the vision of Ukraine’s infrastructure reconstruction. Ambassador of Ukraine to Kuwait Oleksandr Balanutsa praised the efforts of France. “We are grateful for France for having such an initiative to support us. France has been always supporting and standing with Ukraine from the first day.

France has already donated humanitarian aid such as generators, power supplies, food, shelter and more, and is still delivering to Ukraine. Such conferences highlight and emphasize that France is with Ukraine today and will be tomorrow too. We are happy to have such a partner and friend,” he said. The Ukrainian ambassador affirmed that his country needs the support of the international community to find a mechanism on how they can meet the needs of the people of Ukraine.