Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba took part online in an expanded meeting of G7 and partner foreign ministers dedicated to protecting and strengthening Ukraine's energy system for the winter period.
The meeting, convened by the United States and the Japanese G7 Presidency, was attended by the Group of Seven countries, as well as Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and the leadership of the EBRD, UNDP, World Bank, International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA, and the European Energy Community.
Dmytro Kuleba informed his colleagues about Ukraine's preparations for winter, protection against Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, strengthening of air defense and protection of the energy system.
"Ukraine has already made a lot of efforts to prepare for the winter period and counter the threats of Russian terror against our energy system. Today we are better prepared for winter than last year. We are deeply grateful to our international partners who are actively helping us with this. We now face two key tasks: further strengthening Ukraine's air defense and providing energy equipment for our energy system," the Minister said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister named specific steps that will strengthen the protection of our country's critical infrastructure from Russian strikes.
"Strengthening air defense is the best way to prevent new damage to our energy system. We are grateful to our partners for the assistance already provided and look forward to further increasing the number of anti-aircraft missile systems, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-drone systems, electronic warfare equipment and ammunition for air defense," he emphasized.
According to Dmytro Kuleba, the second priority is to provide energy equipment, including additional transformers, gas turbines and other equipment necessary for the prompt restoration and strengthening of Ukraine's energy system.
In this context, he thanked the partners for the contracts already signed for the purchase of transformers and other equipment for Ukrainian needs.
During the meeting, a number of countries and organizations announced their readiness to provide additional equipment and funding to protect and strengthen Ukraine's energy system over the winter.
The Minister added that Ukraine's long-term goal is to fully integrate into the EU energy market by creating a decentralized, flexible and sustainable energy system in our country, based in particular on renewable energy sources.