Russia must pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, Polish president says

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) – Russia has to pay for the reconstruction of war-ravaged Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday.

"Russia has an obligation to carry out this reconstruction and I believe that the international community will force the Russian state to bear the costs," Duda said at a joint news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.

It is in fact "an important duty of the international community" to force Russia to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, he added.

The Polish leader pointed out that it was Russia which started the war against Ukraine and therefore it had to bear "all the costs of the reconstruction."

"If someone attacks a state, then they have to pay a big bill. And that's what we have to do with Russia now," Duda reiterated.

On Dec.1, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that he plans to discuss with his counterparts any available legal means to ensure Russia pays for the reconstruction of war-torn Ukraine.

Speaking at the start of this year's two-day ministerial conference of the Organization for Security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the central Polish city of Lodz, Borrell said, "We will explore all legal possibilities to make sure that Russia will pay for the destruction it's causing in Ukraine."

He recalled that the EU has frozen Russian assets worth nearly €20 billion ($21 billion) since Moscow launched war on Ukraine, and that Western sanctions have also led to the freezing of €300 billion ($312 billion) of foreign exchange reserves of the Russian central bank around the world.