European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen is due to travel to war-torn Ukraine on Friday and has pledged a $180 million clean energy fund to get the country through the winter.
Von der Leyen told reporters that $112 million of that amount would come from Russian assets in the EU because of an invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “It is right that Russia pays for the destruction it has caused,” she said.
The European Union estimates that nearly half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed, making it difficult to heat homes, hospitals and schools as temperatures worsen ahead of the country’s third winter.
Von der Leyen said Russia knows full well that bombing power plants will hurt Ukraine, which hurts a lot. She said morale to continue the fight could be significantly reduced if millions of people shiver for months in a brutal winter.
“We can see big consequences,” said Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency. “People want to move, to go to places where they have shelter and warmth.”
This makes international aid even more necessary, von der Leyen said.
“As friends and partners of Ukraine, we must do everything we can to keep the lights on. And as winter approaches, we need to keep the brave people of Ukraine warm while we get the economy moving,” he said.
Much of the upcoming effort will focus on repairing Ukraine’s crumbling infrastructure. For example, Lithuania is dismantling a thermal power plant to ship it in parts to Ukraine for reconstruction there. Von der Leyen said continued electricity exports from EU countries would cover about a quarter of the country’s electricity needs in the coming months.
The European Union is seeking to decentralize energy production in Ukraine by using solar panels and other new technologies to make it harder to directly affect Russia’s energy grid. It also said this would help Ukraine become a greener economy.
In total, the European Union is estimated to have provided at least $2.24 billion in energy aid to Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion. Von der Leyen said she would meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv on Friday to discuss energy issues.
Kasert writes for the Associated Press.
