Ukraine may need up to a billion euros in foreign assistance to repair the damage inflicted by Russia's invasion and rebuild the country, according to European Investment Bank (EIB) chief Werner Hoyer, quoted by "Bloomberg".

"I put the billion there because I saw numbers in the public space that I consider completely unrealistic when I look at the level of destruction" in Ukraine, Hoyer told a press conference in Frankfurt. Europe "will have to play the biggest role" in that effort, he argued.

The statements come in the same week that EU leaders are due to meet - on Thursday and Friday - in Brussels to discuss Ukraine's reconstruction plan and its bid to join the EU bloc.

The European Commission proposed an aid package in mid-May to cover part of Ukraine's financial needs of about five billion euros a month.

Hoyer also said that he is trying to allocate EIB commitments of between EUR 1 billion and EUR 1.5 billion for the reconstruction effort in Ukraine, and may get approval for this as early as this week.