The 2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC23) ended in London last Friday.  It was a continuation of the cycle of meetings beginning in 2017.

The London URC aimed to build on the commitments agreed last year at Lugano, and the work of the Multi-Agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine.  It was attended by hundreds of corporate leaders and governments.  The Lugano conference was the basis for the planned invasion of foreign capital and multi-nationals into Ukraine once the war was over.

However, as the war drags on, with many more thousands dying in battle and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine being decimated by Russian missiles (and parts of Russian territory now being hit), Western governments and multi-nationals are aiming to speed up the reconstruction of Ukraine as a bulwark within EU and NATO spheres even while the war continues.

The EU has now announced a $50bn investment aid to Ukraine and the…