German Development Minister Svenja Schulze has warned of the herculean effort required to rebuild Ukraine at an international conference to establish a framework for post-war reconstruction.

“This is not a project for one year or two,’’ Ms Schulze told dpa in the Swiss city of Lugano, where the talks were conducted.

The minister added, “We need the whole world in this.”

As the talks started on Monday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal had put the cost of rebuilding the country’s infrastructure at $750 billion.

This, Ms Schulze said, also presented an opportunity for German industry, noting that Ukraine is a big country with around 44 million inhabitants.

In particular, she stressed the importance of preparing for winter so people have not just a roof over their heads but also a warm home.

The talks come as Russia doubles down on its efforts to seize full control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region after capturing the key city of Lysychansk on Sunday.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the challenge presented by rampant corruption.

He promised maximum transparency in all reconstruction projects in a video addressed to the conference.

“Corruption is a problem,’’ Markus Berndt of the European Investment Bank told dpa.

Ukraine was recently ranked 122 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s corruption index.

(dpa/NAN)