Ladies and Gentleman,

First, let me thank all participants for joining us here today for this important global dialogue in Berlin.

My very special thanks to President Zelenskyy for addressing us this morning, and to Prime Minister Shmyhal and his colleagues who are here with us today, and most importantly the people of Ukraine.

This has been an International Expert Conference. President von der Leyen and I sought to bring the best and brightest minds together to discuss with delegations from around the world the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.

I am happy to see the great interest also from civil society and business as we need all actors for a successful recovery. Participation from all over the world through our livestream shows significant global interest.

Today’s discussions showed once again that the size of the reconstruction challenge is impressive.

The experts’ contributions proved that the core elements of recovery, reconstruction and modernisation are very closely linked with each other. Therefore, we need the guidance by experts – as seen today – to identify solutions to this complex challenge.
This conference has confirmed my optimism: I take from the panel discussions that there are not only challenges ahead, but also clear and coherent recommendations and concrete ways to actively create a better future for – and with – Ukraine.

Tonight, we have a better picture on which factors are most important to make the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine a success – for Ukraine, for Europe and for the international community.

The recommendations which the experts have developed over the last weeks, voiced today will play a vital role now, while our Ukrainian colleagues will continue to refine their national recovery plan.

The recommendations will now inform ongoing international policy discussions.

As international community, we will continue to prepare the architecture for a robust and inclusive governance framework to guide our support.

As G7 Presidency, we will continue our work on such a governance framework, in close coordination with the European Union, International Organisations and other partners – in the G7 and beyond – and of course with Ukraine, as we have done throughout our Presidency this year.

Lugano has been the starting point for the recovery of Ukraine, we have continued this important work today, and we will continue to keep pushing forward on this.
Let me assure you that, also beyond the end of our G7 Presidency, Germany will continue to play a strong role to support Ukraine where we can. And we are happy to confirm our offer to host the follow-up Lugano Conference in 2024.

I close this conference by sharing with you my conviction which you have strengthened today: In light of the latest attacks, now more than ever, the recovery of a peaceful and prosperous Ukraine is our joint endeavour.

I am convinced that we are stronger together. We continue to stand together in supporting Ukraine. As long as it takes!