Ukrainians in EU ‘aren’t coming back’ – Kiev
Ukraine has lost a significant portion of its territory and has suffered major economic damage during the conflict with Russia, Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said on Tuesday. He claimed that most of the people who have left the country “are not coming back.”
In an interview with Japanese news channel NHK, Shmigal stated that Ukraine has lost “30% of its economy, some 20% of its territory, and 3.5 million jobs” in the past two years. In addition, 8,400 km of roads have been damaged and 2 million households affected by the fighting, according to the prime minister.
Shmigal further estimated that more than 10 million people have been forced to leave their homes or flee the country altogether, predicting that many are unlikely to return.
“They are not coming back to Ukraine from the European Union, from all around the world, because of security issues,” the prime minister said, reiterating Kiev’s calls for more Western munitions.
“We have support from all of our partners but unfortunately, production of ammunition all around the world, including the European Union, is not so high to bring needed amounts of ammunition to Ukraine,” Shmigal stated.
The comments come after Shmigal met on Monday with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, who pledged Tokyo’s support to help rebuild the Ukrainian economy once the conflict with Moscow ends.
Shmigal said Japan had agreed to provide Kiev with $12.1 billion in aid, but did not elaborate on when or how the funding would be provided. Tokyo, meanwhile, stated it had pledged $105 million in new aid for Ukraine to fund demining work and emergency repairs in the energy and transport sectors.
Last year, Japan agreed to export its Patriot PAC-3 anti-aircraft missiles to the US, widely interpreted as a way for Tokyo to indirectly send military aid to Kiev. Moscow condemned the move, warning it would damage bilateral relations and have negative consequences for global security.
