German Economy Minister Katharina Reiche arrived in Kyiv on Friday, underscoring Berlin's efforts to help Ukraine rebuild its energy infrastructure after Russian attacks. Key topics also include expanding German-Ukrainian defense cooperation, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
Details
"Ukraine is experiencing its fourth winter at war, and Russia has now intensified its attacks on Ukraine's energy supply, which largely threatens the supply of electricity and heat in winter," Reiche said in Kyiv, where she arrived with a business delegation.
Urgent assistance is needed to reconstruct and protect the energy supply, Reiche said, promising during her trip to explore how Germany can provide more concrete and better support in this area.
In addition to preserving and restoring Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the focus of the trip will be on expanding German-Ukrainian defense cooperation, the publication writes.
"Security policy is always also economic policy," Reiche said, adding that she aims to bring German and Ukrainian defense companies closer together.
Supplement
Reiche's arrival coincides with a summit in London where Ukraine's allies, known as the "coalition of the willing," will discuss further military aid.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to attend the meeting and has called on European allies to provide long-range weapons after failing to secure firm commitments from US President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, EU leaders in Brussels agreed in principle to finance Ukraine for the next two years and discussed using frozen Russian assets to finance a loan of 140 billion euros ($163 billion).
Zelenskyy called for a quick decision, saying that these funds would help strengthen Ukraine's defense and save lives.