Ukraine, which has been dealing with the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident alone for many years, has called on the global community to consolidate efforts to tackle similar disasters.
The ex-Soviet state marks on Tuesday the 25th anniversary of an explosion at the No 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986, which sent a cloud of radiation over large areas of Europe and affected about 9 million people.
"Chernobyl has become a global challenge, which can be dealt with successfully only through consolidated efforts by the global community," Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said in an address posted on his official website.
Yanukovych lamented the fact that Ukraine had to tackle the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident alone for two decades, and said that no country is immune to similar disasters, as Japan's nuclear crisis following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami clearly shows.
Ukraine, along with the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is building a new shelter to cover the ruins of Chernobyl's No 4 reactor and the existing concrete and steel sarcophagus.
An international conference in Kiev last week raised 550 million euros of the 740 million euros needed to finance the new radiation shield.
The president said the donations would allow Ukraine to build the new sarcophagus by 2015.
Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are visiting Chernobyl later on Tuesday.
Medvedev earlier said Russia would allocate 45 million euros for the shield's construction in the next two years.
KIEV, April 26 (RIA Novosti)
