Ukraine Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko called Wednesday upon international donors to “maximise” efforts to help the nation in the wake of Russia’s invasion. “While defending our country and fighting against Russia we take a massive risk … to make Ukraine win this war,” Marchenko told the European development bank’s annual meet in the Moroccan city Marrakesh. “We would thus appreciate if you take a small (financial) risk to help Ukraine so that we can win,” he added via video link. The 2022 gathering of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) runs to Thursday. Kyiv can only cover about 62 percent of primary budget needs excluding military expenditure, Marchenko added on Wednesday. “The fiscal deficit is largely financed by the international aid, European Commission, IMF, World Bank, EBRD, EU (and the) biggest economies in the developing world,” he said. “But what we ask … for international partners is (that) donors should maximise these efforts.” This week’s event has been dominated by fallout from the Ukraine conflict. “I’m glad that today all of you are holding these discussions” regarding more help, including for “future rebuilding projects”, Marchenko added. Kyiv has already been pushing Western countries for more support. US lawmakers voted Tuesday to send a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine. If the package passes the Senate as expected, US spending to bolster Ukraine’s defences and address the ensuing humanitarian crisis will soar to around $54 billion. “Ukraine’s government continues to be fully operational” and “is committed to service its debt in full”, added Marchenko on Wednesday. Ukraine estimates that it needs around $5.0 billion (4.7 billion euros) per month just to cover its budget deficit. And it also wants donors to focus also on its future reconstruction. The rebuilding will be a “major challenge”, the European Union’s economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told the meeting in a separate speech. “We cannot quantify (the reconstruction cost) because the damage continues every day.” The bloc was willing to “provide large and very meaningful support for those reconstruction needs”, he added. The EU was also examining how it could link support with structural reforms “which Ukraine may need, potentially as an EU candidate country”, Dombrovskis said.