Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2022 Comments on the UK-Ukraine Infrastructure Summit

The comments made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of State for International Trade, on 11 July 2022.

Ukrainian citizens are not only defending their country against Putin’s illegal war – they are trying to rebuild it.

Restoring public services, unblocking disrupted supply chains and re-open life-saving evacuation routes all need urgent and concerted action. President Zelenskyy is right that these challenges must be shared by countries and businesses around the world.

I was pleased to confirm the UK’s unflinching support to play our part in these efforts when I met Minister Kubrakov today.

I heard how families have emerged from bomb shelters to find their properties turned to rubble. So I want to make sure that UK companies can help by providing temporary bridges and modular, prefabricated housing to help – the same type of emergency housing the UK needed after World War Two.

Longer term, the UK will be providing expertise on the delivery of sustainable and resilient infrastructure through our brilliant UK-based businesses. And we’ll be continuing to work closely with Ukraine to offer them any help needed elsewhere, be it on energy, water, sanitation or public utilities.

It’s particularly poignant to have held the inaugural taskforce meeting in Poland.

Poland has been quite literally on the frontline of the efforts to support Ukraine against Putin. The government and its citizens have been extraordinarily generous in their support of Ukraine. It makes the UK even prouder than ever to call Poland a friend, and I’m pleased to have strengthened that friendship today.