Ukraine's foreign minister urges EU counterparts to help rebuild Ukraine's energy sector

Iryna Kutielieva, VALENTYNA ROMANENKO — Monday, 22 July 2024, 15:14

On 22 July, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attended a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council remotely.

Source: press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, as reported by European Pravda Details: In his address, Kuleba urged Ukraine’s European partners to boost the protection and recovery of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

He outlined five essential initiatives to assist the Ukrainian energy system.

Quote from Kuleba: "The first is to strengthen air defence. The second is the rapid repair and restoration of generation and distribution facilities. The third is the decentralisation of the power system, including the installation of cogeneration units. The fourth is to increase import capacity from the EU from the current 1.7 to 2.2 gigawatts. The fifth is to attract funds and equipment from partners."

The Foreign Minister urged European partners to step up their efforts in these key areas.

Kuleba also emphasised that Russia's most significant strategic edge is its air terror.

In this context, Kuleba emphasised the importance of letting go of irrational fears about Ukrainian attacks on legitimate military targets on Russian territory.

"These strikes are completely legitimate from the point of view of international law and can really speed up the end of the war. Some decisions in this regard have already been made. They helped us thwart Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv. We need to take further steps and expand the area of application," the minister said.

Kuleba also said that Ukraine is launching a series of preparatory meetings at minister and national security adviser level ahead of the second Peace Summit.

Background:

  • Last Monday, the European Union awarded Ukrenergo a €100 million grant specifically for the repair and rebuilding of energy equipment destroyed or damaged by Russian bombardment.
  • Estonia has decided to donate equipment from its Narva power plants to Ukraine.
  • Lithuanian energy company Ignitis Gamyba is transferring equipment from the Third Combined Heat and Power Plant in Vilnius to Ukraine to help restore Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

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