“At the G7+ ministerial meeting, Sibiga calls for urgent strengthening of Ukraine’s energy system ahead of winterAt the G7+ meeting in New York, Andriy Sybiga called on allies to urgently strengthen Ukraine’s energy system. He emphasized the
need to protect, restore, and ensure the long-term sustainability of Ukraine’s energy sector.”, — write: unn.ua
Details
On Monday, September 23, in New York, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga took part in the G7+ ministerial meeting at the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Segment.
The meeting, co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, was attended by heads of diplomacy and representatives of the EU, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom.
The Minister expressed his deep gratitude to the allies for their support of Ukraine, in particular in restoring the energy system damaged by Russian strikes.
He emphasized that on the eve of winter, Ukraine urgently needs to strengthen three areas of energy assistance: protection, restoration and long-term sustainability.
“President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has clearly set a task to increase allied assistance to the Ukrainian energy sector. This includes, first of all, strengthening the air shield to protect our energy system; urgent provision of equipment and additional sources of generation; financing and investment for the long-term sustainability of the energy sector. I urge you to act urgently to help Ukrainians get through this winter,” the Foreign Minister emphasized, addressing the allies.
The minister also informed the audience that Ukrainian intelligence has data on Russia’s preparations for attacks on critical nuclear energy facilities, which poses risks not only for Ukraine but also for its partners. He called for a strong collective response and warnings to Moscow to avoid such a scenario.
“First, Ukraine continues to work to strengthen the protection of these facilities. And here we count on your help. Second, we must respond decisively and quickly. Officially address Russia and warn it to stop. Thirdly, we must ensure expanded expert missions at all relevant facilities,” the minister said.
The Foreign Minister emphasized that Russian attacks against Ukraine’s energy system constitute war crimes and Russia must be held accountable for them.
Andriy Sybiga briefed his colleagues on the current state of the Ukrainian energy grid and the loss of energy capacity as a result of systematic Russian attacks.
The Minister noted that Ukraine’s goal is to restore the energy system in the short and long term, as well as to strengthen energy security and resilience.
According to the foreign minister, the development of distributed generation is an important factor in Ukraine’s energy sustainability, so the allies should focus on providing new generating capacity.
The Foreign Minister emphasized that the best solution to prevent new damage to the Ukrainian energy system is to strengthen Ukraine’s air shield.
“We are grateful for all the support, but we urgently need more air defense systems, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-drone systems and, last but not least, more missiles for air defense. We also need more man-portable air defense systems, which have proven to be effective in shooting down Russian drones,” the minister said.
At the end of his speech, Andriy Sybiga emphasized that Ukraine’s long-term priority is full integration into the EU energy market with a decentralized, flexible and sustainable energy system based on renewable sources.
“The development of our energy sector will also be one of the drivers of our economic recovery. We will be very grateful for your help in attracting investment in this large-scale project. On the diplomatic front, our focus on energy sustainability should be implemented within the framework of the Formula for Peace. One of its points concerns energy security. We invite all of you to actively participate in all relevant efforts aimed at implementing the Peace Formula,” the Minister concluded.
In their speeches, the allies emphasized the urgency of additional support, reported on the assistance that had already been provided and on the preparation of a number of new commitments and specific energy assistance packages.
Specific contributions to Ukraine’s energy resilience ahead of winter announced by the allies include additional funding, air defense systems, expanded import capacity, new generation sources, transformers, mobile generators, and expert support.
Andriy Sybiga expressed his gratitude to the allies for their readiness to provide urgent additional support and expressed hope for the rapid implementation of the decisions taken.
The meeting resulted in the adoption of a joint G7+ statement on supporting Ukraine’s energy resilience, in which the allies reaffirmed their readiness to provide additional support to the Ukrainian energy system, promote energy security and investments to strengthen its long-term sustainability.
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