KYIV, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Ukrainian negotiators will meet U.S. officials on Thursday to discuss the country’s post-war reconstruction, including a “prosperity package”, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday.
Zelenskiy told reporters in a WhatsApp media chat that the teams would also discuss preparations for a trilateral meeting that would include Russia, adding that Kyiv hoped this would take place in early March.
Rustem Umerov, the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, and head of the Ukrainian negotiating team, will meet in Geneva with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the U.S. president’s son-in-law, Zelenskiy said.
“First, it will be a bilateral meeting with the American side. The first question is the prosperity package, which is the package for Ukraine’s recovery, and they will discuss the details,” Zelenskiy said.
Proceeding with the reconstruction of Ukraine after the destruction wrought by Russian air raids and frontline combat has become a major element in broader talks on how to end the war, which entered its fifth year this week.
Ukraine hopes to attract about $800 billion of public and private funds over the next 10 years to rebuild the country.
The latest assessment from the World Bank released on Monday showed that rebuilding Ukraine’s economy will cost an estimated $588 billion. The assessment is based on data from February 24, 2022, through December 31, 2025.
Ukrainian officials are pitching Ukraine as a future European Union member and a lucrative investment destination but any funds depend on a ceasefire and a peace deal that remain elusive.
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met this month for their third U.S.-mediated meeting so far this year but failed to reach any breakthrough on key sticking points, including territory.
Zelenskiy also said that Ukrainian and U.S. negotiating teams would discuss the details of exchanges of war prisoners between Ukraine and Russia.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alison Williams)
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