Rebuilding Ukraine

The Rome Conference

Meloni: "Commitments of over 10 billion at Ukraine conference". Mattarella: "Clear message from Rome, Kiev is not alone".

The PM spoke at the Volunteers' call: 'Unity of the West is crucial'

10 July 2025

La premier Giorgia Meloni e il presidente dell’Ucraina Volodymyr Zelensky durante la conferenza stampa congiunta in occasione della Conferenza sulla ripresa dell’Ucraina 2025

9' min read

It should have been the appointment, promoted under Italy's impetus, to give concrete impetus to the rebirth of Ukraine following a ceasefire. But with the ceasefire still far off, the Conference for the Reconstruction of Ukraine that opened in Rome (it will close on Friday 11 July) became an opportunity for the world to rally around Kiev. And to reiterate the full Western support for Volodymyr Zelensky, who came to Italy for the occasion. From the Rome conference, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched the European Fund for Ukraine.

Mattarella: apparent and unjust peace is always short-lived

"Today it is more crucial than ever that Kiev warns that it is not alone: this message is the primary meaning of this conference," said President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, speaking late in the afternoon at the conference. "The European Union, reaffirming its own raison d'être against policies of power, is called upon to reaffirm its will to develop an interconnected, secure, prosperous, free world" against "the will to overpower by more armed powers to impose their domination on other peoples. Antagonistic and aggressive policies that express the wrong side of history,' the Head of State added. That for Ukraine, the President of the Republic stressed, "must be, we will not tire of repeating it, a just, comprehensive, shared, lasting peace. It would not be peace to surrender to the oppression of the strongest. An apparent peace, under unjust conditions, is always short-lived. That is why this war concerns the entire international community. Making international law prevail reflects the common feeling of humanity. It is not an abstract or utopian exercise". "It is necessary not to surrender to a drift that appears only to want to feed frenzy to dismantle every limit, including those set after the Second World War, to the ferocity that characterises conflicts and to make principles of humanitarian law prevail in order to protect the conditions of civilian populations," Mattarella added.

Zelensky: a Marshall Plan-style approach is needed

"We need a Marshall Plan-style approach and we should develop it together," Zelensky said for his part in his speech. "After a large-scale aggression, we need a large-scale recovery. And we count on Italy, which will be very active on this path'. For the Ukrainian president, support for Kiev is 'very important with regard to Ukraine's accession to the EU. There are signals and we have heard them today from the European leadership and from us. We will do whatever is necessary, Ukraine has fulfilled all its commitments and we expect the EU to be very consistent as well'.

Meloni to the Volunteers: 'Pressure and deterrence on Moscow. Fundamental unity of the West'

After speaking at the Rome summit, in the afternoon Zelensky and Meloni participated remotely in the second eagerly awaited meeting of the Kiev support tandem: a call of the willing with Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer connected from the UK. Present in Rome were US special envoy Keith Kellogg, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and von der Leyen. The Call of the Willing took stock of the urgent issue of defence against Russian attacks, which are increasingly heavy on the invaded country. "The unity of the West, as I have said many, many times, is crucial, and I am particularly pleased that the US special envoy Kellogg for the first time is attending this meeting. And I am proud that it is taking place in Rome, thank you for being here,' Meloni said at the start of the call (the link was open to the press). 'With massive and continuous bombing of civilians Russia shows no willingness to make progress,' Meloni added. 'That is why, in parallel with the necessary support for Ukraine, I agree that we must also increase the pressure on Moscow to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible and open the way to diplomacy, that is the debate we will have here. We must remember that this can only happen with deterrence. Anyone who is not naive understands this perfectly well. It is not a question of the good attitude we can have towards Russia,' Meloni continued, 'it is about what we can do to really apply pressure and deterrence. This we have to discuss and realise'.

The Ukraine Reconstruction Conference

In addition to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the two-day Reconstruction Conference underway in Rome sees the entire government committed, ready to welcome 5,000 participants, including around 100 government delegations and 40 from international organisations - including the main development banks - and 2,000 companies and representatives of local autonomies and civil society, as well as over 500 accredited journalists who will follow the work, which will be divided into four dimensions: business, human; local and regional; and reforms in the path to EU membership.

Meloni: support for Kiev, important cooperation on defence

Making statements to the press with Ukrainian President Zelensky, Meloni said: 'Italy will continue to support the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people, as it has done so far at 360 degrees,' including with 'cooperation between our defence industries, among the topics we have been discussing, which is becoming increasingly central and in which we want to continue to invest. We know how important it is to allow Ukraine to continue to defend itself, especially from the increasingly brutal attacks with which Russia continues to target civilians'.

La premier Giorgia Meloni e il presidente dell’Ucraina Volodymyr Zelensky durante la conferenza stampa congiunta in occasione della Conferenza sulla ripresa dell’Ucraina 2025, Roma, Giovedì 10 Luglio 2025 (Foto Roberto Monaldo / LaPresse) Premier Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the joint press conference on the occasion of the Conference on the Recovery of Ukraine 2025, Rome, Thursday, July 10, 2025 (Photo by Roberto Monaldo / LaPresse)

"Everyone is here to do their part"

"Participation at such a large, high level at this conference sends an important message to the world: each of us is here to do our part for a common goal, to look beyond the unbearable injustice that has been inflicted on the Ukrainian people for more than three years and to know how to imagine now a rebuilt, free, prosperous Ukraine. We intend to achieve this not only by helping Ukraine to defend itself, by carrying out every effort for peace, but also by knowing how to imagine the aftermath, knowing how to build what has been destroyed, roads, bridges, schools, churches, hospitals,' said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in her opening speech at the plenary session of the conference. Meloni also announced that commitments of more than EUR 10 billion would be made today.

Il ministro degli Esteri Antonio Tajani, Olena Zelenska, il presidente dell’Ucraina Zelensky, il presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni, durante la Conferenza per la Ricostruzione dell’Ucraina, presso il Centro congressi La nuvola, Roma, 10 luglio 2025 (ANSA/VINCENZO LIVIERI)

"Reconstruction does not benefit those who help Moscow"

"We will have to take into account those who did everything they could to prevent this barbarity and those who did not. This is why, as also written in the declaration of the G7 finance ministers, we want to work with Ukraine also so as not to allow those entities that helped finance the Russian war machine to benefit from the reconstruction,' Meloni added.

"Italy will take care of Odessa, Ukrainian landmark"

"To rebuild a nation battered by war," stressed the FdI leader, "money, engineers, architects, workers are not enough. What is needed is something more, the sentiment that the Ukrainian people most of all have shown they know, the love of their homeland, the love of freedom, the will to guarantee a future of prosperity and well-being for their children. Without love of country, everything we do loses its meaning,' he added. 'It is no coincidence that Italy has chosen to take care of some of the symbols and places that make up the identity mosaic of the Ukrainian nation: the place is Odessa, the symbols are the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, the Philharmonic, the Museum of Fine Arts, gems of a splendid cultural heritage that belongs to us as Europeans and that as Europeans we want to protect so that it can be handed down to those who will come after us.

Russian Embassy: lust for domination and greed in Rome

Behind the Ukraine recovery conference that opened today in Rome lies a 'cynical and lying logic that is being carried out by the current leaders of Western countries, including Italy'. This was stated by the Russian embassy in Italy in a comment on its Telegram channel. "Instead of stopping the war and resolving its root causes, it is on its consequences that they place the emphasis, thus showing the entire world their lust for domination, greed and gluttony, for which they are willing to completely distort any factual reality," the note added.

Meloni: private capital mobilised for Ukraine's recovery

"Our task is to help Ukraine, and we will do so, to write this new chapter in its history, for the sake of justice and as a warning for the future. And Italy intends to play a leading role in this. And it can do it. Not only because of the constancy, the clarity with which it has sided with the right side of history right from the start, without ever wavering, but also because its solid, extraordinary productive fabric has all the credentials to generate a multiplier of investments, a multiplier of opportunities'. The premier said this in her speech to the plenary session of the Conference. "Because the challenge we face," she added, "certainly requires the maximum effort from nations, governments, multilateral and financial institutions, but it is a game that we can only win if we can count on a robust mobilisation of private capital, on the entrepreneurial spirit of companies, on their ability to attract investment.

The Prime Minister: 'Italy can make a difference for Ukraine's recovery'

"The enthusiasm, the dynamism that our companies have shown and are showing, the genius and creativity that the whole world recognises in them, say that Sistema Italia can make a difference. It is a commitment that finds concrete expression today in the agreements that some of our leading companies, Leonardo, Enel, Terna, Snam, Ferrovie, and I am only mentioning a few, will sign with their Ukrainian counterparts," said the Prime Minister in her speech. "We are obviously talking about concrete initiatives, focused on strategic projects capable of drawing a real change, giving the sign of a choral commitment of our production system. A commitment,' Meloni emphasised, 'that obviously moves in parallel with that which has been fielded by the government, by the institutions, in their various articulations. And this conference gives us the opportunity to sign numerous agreements'.

"Italy's contribution to EU equity fund for Ukraine"

"One of the main areas on which we wanted to focus our attention concerns the creation of new financial mechanisms that can accompany the work of companies and act as a multiplier. This is why I am happy to announce Italy's decisive contribution to the creation of a new equity fund at European level,' explained the premier. "And the message we want to send to entrepreneurs today is simple," she added: do not be afraid to invest, to build, to rebuild in Ukraine, because investing in Ukraine's reconstruction is not a gamble, it is an investment in a nation that has demonstrated more resilience than any other. But it is also an investment in peace, in the economic growth of the whole of Europe, in the security of our citizens'.

Giorgetti announces new allocations for Ukraine recovery

"The reconstruction of Ukraine will require extraordinary resources from the public, private, national, and international sectors, and not least, the coordinated action of all relevant actors. It is therefore with great pleasure that I am pleased to announce that the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance intends to participate in an agreement with Ukraine in the amount of EUR 50 million. This financing will enable the purchase of goods and services deemed essential for reconstruction. The objective of this initiative is to contribute to the country's most pressing needs and at the same time support Italian excellence in sectors in which they are able to offer expertise and quality solutions'. This was stated by Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference. "In addition, our intention is to contribute 100 million euro to the Era programme, Economic Resilience Action, by the World Bank Group. And this testifies to our willingness to strengthen capacity to support the development of Ukraine's private sector. I am also pleased to announce a further contribution of EUR 10 million for the implementation of a Bers project in the agri-food sector. The programme aims to modernise Ukraine's agri-food industry, while facilitating its integration into global value chains,' Giorgetti reported. 'I would like to emphasise that all these initiatives will be financed with new grant resources, with the clear intention of not further burdening the Ukrainian public budget. Finally, Italy believes that technical cooperation is fundamental and a cornerstone for effective and sustainable reconstruction. And it is to this end that we intend to contribute 1.5-2 million euro to the First initiative, also by Bers, for the creation of a cooperation fund for the preparation of projects with resources from a bilateral fund held by Italy at the bank," concluded the head of the Mef..

Von der Leyen launches European Fund for Ukraine

The guarantees and grants we are signing today will unlock more than €10 billion of investment for reconstruction. We will also ensure that Ukraine will continue to receive support until 2028 and beyond, when the new European budget comes into effect. I am particularly pleased to announce the European Reconstruction Fund for Ukraine, the world's largest equity fund to support reconstruction," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaking at the Rome conference on Ukraine's reconstruction. The President of the European Commission has overcome the no-confidence vote of the European Parliament.