Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted a summit in Kyiv whose aim is to harness the expertise of local and regional authorities to support Ukraine's reconstruction.

The International Summit of Cities and Regions – brought together by Ukraine's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities – included mayors and regional governors from around the world, members of the Ukrainian government, and representatives of Ukrainian civil society, business, and think-tanks.

On behalf of ECR President Marco Marsilio, Pavel Branda, deputy mayor of Rádlo joined the delegation of the European Committee of the Regions' Conference of Presidents to Kyiv, where he emphasized the value of giving local and regional authorities in Ukraine a foundational role in the country's reconstruction efforts: "Ukraine's local and regional administrations have shown how effective and resilient they are during the war. They will be critically important to the country's recovery. It is a huge challenge. We have all seen images of destruction from Ukraine, but it is something else to see how village after village, town after town have been destroyed. They need our help in the reconstruction work."

Preceding the summit on 19 April, Pavel Branda and other members of the CoR delegation were given an opportunity to see for themselves the damage wreaked in the region of Kyiv, with visits to the towns of Irpin and Bucha, and the villages of Hostomel, Borodyanka, Andriivka, Makariv, and Dmytrivka.

Upon arrival at the Przemyśl train station the CoR delegation was welcomed by First Vice-President Marshal Władysław Ortyl before they continued on to Kyiv.