EU enlargement chief hails progress with US on post-war economic plan for Ukraine

EURONEWS.COM

ByEuronews

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Speaking to Euronews on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday evening, the EU’s enlargement chief Marta Kos hailed progress on the work between the EU, the US and Ukraine on a framework for Ukraine’s post-war recovery and prosperity.

“I’m happy that we have been able to come to an agreement on the so-called prosperity paper, a framework defining how to develop Ukraine after peace,” Kos said. “This is really a plan.”

Kos, who will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a number of investment partners including BlackRock in Davos, emphasized the importance of securing investor confidence to ensure Kyiv’s post-war prosperity.

“State money or EU money is not enough,” Kos said. “We can only be successful if we bring private capital, but we will not be able to bring private capital in if we do not have the business conditions that make investors feel safe.”

Asked about reports that the EU executive is planning an “EU membership lite” for Ukraine should the US-brokered peace plan include a swift timeline for EU accession as part of the country’s security guarantees, Kos said: “We have a big challenge. And in these challenging times, we have to think out of the box.”