Gdansk hosts Ukraine Reconstruction Conference amid Poland‑Ukraine diplomatic row

The fifth annual Ukraine Recovery Conference opened in Gdansk’s Amberexpo centre, drawing 70‑80 national delegations, representatives of about 30 international organisations and major banks. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, leaders from Poland, the Baltic states and other Eastern European countries attended. The agenda focuses on rebuilding Ukraine’s energy grid, transport infrastructure and security sector, with the war‑damaged reconstruction cost estimated at over €500 billion. An EU loan package of €90 billion for 2026‑27, whose first tranche of €3.2 billion has already been disbursed, earmarks two‑thirds for defence. Organisers expect around 200 agreements, including more than a dozen Poland‑Ukraine documents, to be signed.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko led the Ukrainian delegation, but President Volodymyr Zelensky was absent for the first time since 2022. His non‑attendance follows a diplomatic dispute after he renamed a military unit “Heroes of the UPA”, a World War II nationalist group linked to atrocities in Poland. The move provoked strong criticism from Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, raising tensions that the conference hopes to ease.

Polish officials, including Deputy Minister Paveu Koval, highlighted the scale of the meeting, describing it as “the biggest economic‑political conference in Europe this year”. The summit aims to channel private investment into Ukraine’s reconstruction while managing the fraught political context between Kyiv and Warsaw.