World should help Ukraine not only to defend itself from Russia, but also to rebuild - Scholz

This became known from his Saturday's podcast.

"Reconstruction will be a big, huge task. And we will have to invest a lot to make it work well. Ukraine can't do it alone. The European Union can't do it alone. It can only be done by the whole world community, which now supports Ukraine. And it will take a long time to do it," the chancellor said.

He considers it important not only to determine "very substantially" what needs to be done, where investments need to be made, how to organize reconstruction, but also to think about how the world community will be able to finance such reconstruction over many years.

These issues will be the subject of an expert conference, which Scholz, as chairman of the G7, together with the head of the European Union Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will convene in Berlin on October 25.

"It's about sending a sign of hope now, amid the horrors of war, that everything is getting better again," the politician noted.

He reminded that every day the world sees pictures of the terrible destruction caused by the Russian war in Ukraine: destroyed villages, cities, roads, railways, power lines, hospitals, schools, libraries, universities.      

"And while the world is trying to support Ukraine and its people in protecting independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty, their democracy and freedom, it is necessary to think about the future, about how to ensure a good future for those who live in Ukraine, so that the economy grows again and everything works," Scholz said.