LOC14:32
11:32 GMT
BRUSSELS, March 9 (KUNA) -- European Union Development Ministers are holding an informal meeting in the Swedish capital Stockholm Thursday with the focus on support for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
"Today, we are going to discuss how we can support the reconstruction of Ukraine. Well, reconstruction has already started. We support a lot the civilians, we try to rebuild the electricity," EU High Representative Josep Borrell told reporters ahead of the meeting.
"We are going to discuss how we can finance the reconstruction, and how we can use the frozen assets -- the Russian frozen assets -- in line with international law and European law, to finance the reconstruction," he said.
Borrell noted that today there were some "bad news" concerning a Russian attack against the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
"It has been disconnected, once again, from the electricity grid of Ukraine. As far as we know, 40% of the Kyiv population is without electricity, with a lot of black holes in the electricity system around the whole country," said the EU foreign policy chief.
"It shows that, once again, Russia is trying to destroy completely the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine. And that is why we have to continue providing for, as we discussed yesterday, the way for Ukraine to defend itself," he added.
EU Defense Ministers on Wednesday pledged more military support to Ukraine during their informal meeting in Sweden which currently holds the EU Presidency. (end)
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