President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen outlined three elements of support for the reconstruction and reform of Ukraine, which will lead it to future membership in the European Union.

"The main message of the day for me today is that Ukraine has everything it takes for a successful reconstruction. But allow me to focus on a few takeaways from today's discussion. The first one is: Give ownership to the locals, creating trust in the reconstruction process," von der Leyen said on Tuesday in Berlin, opening the International Expert Conference on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Modernization of Ukraine.

She said that secondly, it is needed the right architecture and structure to make this support broad and inclusive and thirdly, since Ukraine has the status of a candidate on the path to the European Union, the EU must consider these reconstruction efforts as part of Ukraine's path to the EU.

Von der Leyen dwelled in detail on the issue of providing assistance to Ukraine in the short term, mentioning the need to ensure the current functioning of the state in terms of salaries, pensions and other payments, and also said that with the participation of the European Commission, a project will be launched to restore infrastructure, schools, and assistance will be provided IDPs.

Regarding the second point, she dwelled on the efforts to restore the country, recalling that during the international conference that took place in Lugano, the principles for providing assistance to Ukraine, the so-called "Lugano principles," were determined. Among them, von der Leyen named the orientation towards reforms, the transparency of the process, the rule of law, and stability. The President of the European Commission said these are the principles that must be taken into account in the restoration.

She said the scale of destruction in Ukraine is unprecedented. "The World Bank estimates the damage of the war so far at 350 billion euro. And the destruction goes on, as the most recent attacks in the last few days have shown. Neither Ukraine nor individual partners will be able to foot the bill alone. We must all lend a hand – the EU, the G7 and our partners far and wide. The international financial institutions and leading international organisations should of course be on board. In the long term, it will be important for private investors and companies to invest in Ukraine's reconstruction too," von der Leyen said, addressing the audience.

"We all agree that supporting Ukraine is not only the right thing to do, it is also in our very own interest. Ukraine is fighting not only for its own sovereignty and territorial integrity, but against Putin's attempt to shift borders by force and inflict war and destruction on his neighbours. Ukraine is also defending the international rules-based order, the bedrock of our peaceful coexistence and of prosperity worldwide. So in supporting Ukraine, we are building our own future and the future of our common Europe," she said.