An international conference has pledged about five million dollars to Ukraine to help resettle Crimean Tatars, who were expelled to Central Asia by Stalin.

More than a quarter of a million have returned to the Crimea over the past decade.

The conference in Kiev -- attended by twenty-six countries -- was sponsored by the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Valery Smolii, said it had demonstrated the world's readiness to respond to Ukraine's problems.

He said the money would be used to build infrastructure, create new jobs and provide for the cultural needs of the returning Tatars.