Statement by President von der Leyen with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on the occasion of the President’s visit to Kyiv
©European Union, 2024 Source: EC - Audiovisual Service Thank you very much Mister President, dear Volodymir,
Thank you for welcoming me again in Kyiv. This is now the eighth time that I have been here since the brutal invasion of Russia in Ukraine and this visit comes at a crucial time. Winter is approaching and Russia keeps targeting your civilian energy infrastructure in a blatant and vicious way to try and plunge your country in the dark. And I could see this morning, when I visited one of your invincibility points, how determined the Ukrainians are to make sure that this does not happen. I am here today, dear Volodymir, to tell you and the people of Ukraine that the European Union is here to help you in this challenge to keep the lights on, to keep your people warm, as winter is just around the corner, and to keep your economy going, as you fight for your survival.
My first point is on this topic. The Commission, as you said, has developed a winter plan for Ukraine, which I presented yesterday in Brussels, together with Fatih Birol, the Director of the International Energy Agency, that also stands by your side. The Commission’s plan is built around three priorities.
The first is: we repair. We help you repair the damages done by the Russian strikes. We will aim to restore 2.5 gigawatts of capacity this winter. That is approximately 15% of your country’s needs for this winter.
Second, we connect. We will keep connecting Ukraine to the European electricity grid. Thus, we can export 2 gigawatts of electricity to Ukraine. This covers roughly 12% of the country’s needs for the winter. So, with these two pillars, repair and connect, we can cover over 25% of Ukraine’s needs for this winter. This is in addition to Ukraine’s own production.
Therefore, the third pillar of our plan is to stabilise. We are working on securing a steady flow of energy through Ukraine, despite Russia’s attacks on large infrastructure. Right now, we are dispatching mobile gas turbines and solar panels, and we spoke about the physical protection of the power station that are so necessary.
These are the priorities for supporting the energy infrastructure. And now comes the funding. We have provided at least EUR 2 billion to Ukraine’s energy security so far. That is EUR 2 billion worth of financial support and in-kind donations from the Member States, for example, 10,000 transformers and generators, or a full Lithuanian thermal powerplant, that is being dismantled in Lithuania and shipped to Ukraine and rebuilt there. And more will come.
Yesterday, I announced the support package of EUR 160 million, for repairs and emergency winter equipment. Part of this money comes from the proceeds of Russian immobilised assets in the European Union. And this is exactly what we should do with it, we should make Russia pay for the destruction it caused.
This leads me to my second point. We understand the tremendous financing needs created by the war. You need to keep the state and the economy running and at the same time bolster your defence capacity against the Russian aggression. We have been supporting you on this since the very beginning, with over EUR 118 billion from Europe to date. But Russia’s relentless attacks mean further support is necessary. This is why I am happy to announce that today, the Commission has adopted proposals that will enable the EU to lend EUR 35 billion from the G7 pledge. This is a huge step forward. We are now confident that we can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly, a loan backed by the windfall profits from immobilised Russian assets. Crucially, this loan will flow straight into your national budget. This will improve Ukraine’s macro-financial stability and provide you with significant and much-needed fiscal space. You will decide how best to use the funds, giving you maximum flexibility to meet your needs. And this will free more of your national resources to strengthen then, for example, your military capabilities and to defend yourself against the Russian aggression.
Of course, your most pressing need is support for your military and your defence industry. This is my third point. Even before the loan, we started transferring the proceeds from frozen Russian assets in the EU to your military. This summer we transferred the first EUR 1.4 billion, in the form of orders for weapons and equipment via the European Peace Facility. Our Member State Denmark, for example, sent EUR 400 million to purchase equipment from Ukraine for Ukraine from these Russian proceeds. This money was directly placed for orders to the Ukrainian defence industry. So we buy for Ukraine in Ukraine, so that the added value is increased, out of the Russian state’s pockets, to your defence industry. This makes Europe the number one public investor of your defence sector. And our EU Defence Innovation Office is now up and running, with EU staff, here in Kyiv, and a support team in Brussels. It will work as a hub to connect Ukrainian and EU defence industries, with matchmaking events for example. That is to your benefit and very much to our benefit as well because Ukraine’s defence industry is among the most cutting-edge ones, so we are very much looking forward to deepening our ties in this area, even before you join the EU.
And this, joining the European Union, is my fourth point. It will be and remains one of my priorities, also in the next term, as I am preparing to lead the Commission for another five years: the accession process to the European Union. At the end of June, less than three months ago, Ukraine took a huge step forward, with the first Intergovernmental Conference. This was a testament to the great strides Ukraine has made on its EU-related reforms, while fighting Russian aggression. It is impressive to see that. Our objective now – with the agreement of Member States – is to open negotiations on the ‘fundamentals cluster’ as soon as possible. It is an important one, and then we can move forward with the other clusters too.
Thank you again dear Volodymir, as we are approaching, sadly, 1,000 days of Russia’s aggression, we are daunted by Ukraine’s enduring bravery. And we can only try to match it with our enduring friendship and solidarity, and the prospect of a peaceful future for Ukraine in the European Union.
Slava Ukraini.