Big‑ticket commitments. On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced around 200 agreements worth over €10 billion at the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome, thanking Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for hosting and championing the cause.
- Zelensky highlighted deals in defence—particularly drone production—and broader reconstruction and development projects.
- On Wednesday, Zelensky met with Pope Francis and President Sergio Mattarella, accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska.
Trillion‑dollar price tag. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal estimated Ukraine’s rebuild at US $1 trillion.
- €540 billion sourced from frozen Russian assets and a special export levy on Russian raw materials
- €460 billion from the EU’s structural fund for Ukraine, aimed at unlocking private European investment
“Proud of our joint result”. Over 4,000 participants attended, including 100 official delegations, 40 international organisations, and hundreds of local and civil‑society representatives.
- Meloni lauded the collective effort of nations, institutions, financiers, local authorities, businesses, and civil society.
- “But rebuilding a war‑torn nation needs more than money, engineers and architects,” she warned, underscoring Ukraine’s patriotic spirit.
- Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti emphasised that any company profiting from the Russian market—thus indirectly funding the war—must be barred from reconstruction contracts, as this stance mirrors the G7 Finance Declaration agreed upon in Banff last May.
Italian industry on board. Ferrovie dello Stato will lead 15 firms to establish a logistics corridor from Western Ukraine to Trieste and Venice ports.
- Fincantieri will set up a shipyard hub in Odessa.
- Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Ukraine’s Reconstruction Minister Oleksii Kuleba signed two deals: cultural‑heritage restoration in Odessa and improvements to the city’s water infrastructure.
- Other Italian participants span energy, architecture, construction, electronics, logistics and environmental remediation.
Russian criticism. As Rome opens its doors, Russia accuses the West of “fueling endless war” while simultaneously pledging reconstruction funds.
- In a statement full of propaganda, the Russian Embassy in Rome charged that financing Ukraine’s defence only deepens civilian suffering, even as plans are laid to rebuild what has been destroyed.
Expert’s take. The conference is “yet another occasion” that Meloni “does not want to miss” as it offers her “the chance to reaffirm her commitment to Ukraine,” says Teresa Coratella, deputy head of ECFR’s Rome office and policy fellow.
- Moreover, Meloni wants “to reassure Europe that she maintains a firm stance on Russia in line with EU strategy, to continue building the multilateral political capital she has been gradually building since taking office, and to demonstrate that she follows her own line, independently of US President Trump,” the expert adds.
