Ukraine's Foreign Minister urges EU colleagues to help in restoring Ukraine's energy sector

On 22 July, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took part online in a meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers.

During his remarks, Kuleba urged partners to increase the protection and recovery of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

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

"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 minister said.

The Foreign Minister urged European partners to increase efforts in these key areas of work.

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

In this context, Kuleba emphasised the importance of rejecting unjustified concerns 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 starting a series of preparatory meetings at the level of ministers and national security advisers before the second Peace Summit.

Last Monday, the European Union awarded Ukrenergo a grant of €100 million, specifically for the repair and restoration of power equipment destroyed or damaged by Russian bombardment.

Estonia has decided to donate equipment from Narva power plants to Ukraine.

Lithuanian energy company Ignitis Gamyba is transferring equipment from the Vilnius Third Combined Heat and Power Plant to Ukraine to help restore Ukraine's energy infrastructure.