Ukraine has increased calls for economic and military support from the West, after weeks of Russian attacks left the country struggling to produce enough electricity
. More than a third of Ukraine’s electric stations have been hit, Ukrainian officials said.
Europe has seen little ebbing of political support for Ukraine despite rising protests across the bloc over living costs and high inflation, but its assistance has consistently lagged behind the U.S.The EU is promising monthly support of $1.5 billion a month for Ukraine in 2023 but has failed to chalk up a third of the $9 billion it promised Ukraine in May.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Berlin conference’s host, said the rebuilding of Ukraine would be a task for generations to come. A close aide to Mr. Scholz said it would take decades to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and economy once the war ends. “The EU is looking at this at scale,” a European diplomat said of the request for budget support to Kyiv. “However, there’s an underlying question about how much to tackle or get the Ukrainians to tackle the structural reforms that have long been needed in the Ukrainian economy and the extent to which that can be done when you’ve got a war economy.”
The letter had created a controversy within the party, as it appeared to raise questions about whether progressive Democrats remained on board with current administration policy.