G7 calls on international community to urgently increase aid to Ukraine ahead of winter
The foreign ministers of the G7 countries have called on the international community to increase aid to Ukraine, which is being attacked daily by Russia.
The ministers emphasised that the countries welcome further commitments to provide both financial and non-financial support to address the most urgent needs of Ukraine's energy sector.
This specifically includes repairing damaged power plants and district heating systems, the deployment of new distributed energy sources, the provision of emergency backup power for critical services, and passive protection of energy infrastructure.
"We call on the global community to urgently strengthen efforts in that regard and provide Ukraine with all assistance needed," the statement stated.
The ministers highlighted the importance of the work being done by international partners, banks and the Energy Community’s Ukraine Energy Support Fund in this area.
"We call upon international partners to elevate their financial contributions, in particular to the latter fund in order to improve Ukraine’s resilience next winter," the statement said.
The ministers stressed the need for international assistance to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure from attacks, including through strengthening air defence.
They also emphasised the importance of implementing reforms in the energy sector.
"This is especially crucial ahead of the winter, given the scale of repairs and new energy infrastructure needs," the statement added.
In early September, the European Commission announced an additional €40 million in aid to Ukraine amid ongoing Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
Katarína Mathernová, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, said in an interview with European Pravda that the European Union believes that Ukraine, with its energy system battered by attacks, faces a difficult winter, but the situation will not be catastrophic.
Watch the full interview with Katarína Mathernová on winter preparations, funding for weapons, and EU accession.