Sept. 23 (UPI) — On top of ongoing U.N. discussions this weekend, the top U.S. diplomat met with counterparts from Ukraine and Italy to reaffirm ongoing commitments to the Ukrainian energy sector.
And, in doing so, they were critical of Russia’s ongoing war with its independent eastern neighbor, according to new reports.
In their 5th meeting, the G7+ Ministerial Group met amid the 79th United Nations General Assembly session that is ongoing in New York City. At that meeting, the group members reaffirmed “our unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s brutal and unjust attacks on Ukraine and its energy infrastructure,” a joint release by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated.
Blinken said earlier Monday that the G7 and partner nations have collectively “worked to mobilize resources over the last couple of years for Ukraine, for its people, to ensure that they have the energy supplies that they need and that the country can deliver those supplies to the people who need them.”
“We reaffirm our strong commitment to the territorial integrity, independence, and sovereignty of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and to focus on the key priorities needed to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace based on international law, including the U.N. Charter and its principles,” the statement said.
They also pledged to provide further funding and other support to address the Ukrainian energy sector’s most urgent needs, which they said includes repairs of damaged power plants and district heating systems, deployment of new, distributed power generation and emergency backup power for critical services, and the “passive protection” for its energy infrastructure.
Recently, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged more than $39 billion in loans for Ukraine to help repair power plants and critical civilian infrastructure as it continues to fight against Russia’s invasion.
In their statement, Blinken, Tajani and Sybiha called out Russia’s seizure and continued control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“We emphasize that any use of nuclear energy and nuclear installations must be safe, secured, safe-guarded, and environmentally sound,” they said, stressing that the nuclear facility “must return to the full sovereign control of Ukraine in line with IAEA principles and under its independent supervision.”
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in the United States to lobby lawmakers to aid Ukraine’s war efforts and laid out a “plan for victory” to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
Speaking Sunday on a visit to a munitions plant in Scranton, Pa., producing 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine, Zelensky said the plan took into consideration the contingency of the November U.S. presidential election and an imminent new occupant in the White House.
“The plan includes not only what is needed from Biden today. There will be a new president in the United States and we need to talk to each of the candidates,” he said.
The United States, Italy, as well as Ukraine, “strongly condemned,” their statement said, Russia’s “continuous missile and drone strikes” on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and cities, which — according to the diplomats in their release — had escalated since March and “severely threaten Ukraine’s energy security.”
Also threatened, they said, is Ukrainian civilian access “to critical services including electricity, heat, and water during the cold winter months, which could be the harshest for Ukraine since at least its independence.”
In February, Italy signed an agreement in Munich with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development — or EBRD, the more than 30-year-old international financial institution — for a more than $222 million Euro project “to restore the capacity of the main hydropower generation Ukraine company,” Tajani said Monday in brief remarks.
And the Italian government had authorized a previous $55 million grant for “urgent measures” needed to repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructures in its ongoing war.
Italy, Tajani said in his own remarks, has been “strongly engaged on this on the bilateral level since the start of the war.” The joint statement also pointed to regional energy implications of the Russian military’s ongoing military incursion in the former Soviet satellite state, such as on the neighboring small country of Moldova.
“The arrival of the winter is imminent, and we are very concerned by this situation,” Italy’s foreign minister said.
The three alliances nations “welcome and underscore,” they said, “the significance of Ukraine’s commitment to business-enabling reforms that will establish a level playing field for investment in the energy sector” while calling on international partners “to elevate their financial contributions” to Ukraine.
They also acknowledged the need for international assistance to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from future attacks, which the statement says include strengthening the Ukrainian air defense capabilities, and reaffirm its readiness to continue providing such assistance.
Supporting the Ukrainian vision of a “more decentralized, diversified, resilient, and renewable/sustainable energy system” that is fully integrated with Europe is the goal.
“We are convinced that rebuilding Ukraine’s energy system in the short and long term is in the interest of enhancing global energy security and sustainability.”