On Monday, 23 September, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha took part in the G7+ Ministerial Meeting of the UN General Assembly's High-level Segment in New York.

The meeting co-chaired by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, was attended by ministers of foreign affairs and representatives of the EU, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The Minister expressed his deep gratitude to the allies for their support of Ukraine, particularly in restoring the energy system damaged by the russian strikes.

He underscored that on the eve of the winter season, Ukraine urgently needs increased support in three areas of energy system: defence, recovery and long-term sustainability.

«President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has clearly set a task to increase allied assistance to the Ukrainian energy sector. This includes, first of all, strengthening the air shield to protect our energy system; urgent provision of equipment and additional sources of generation; financing and investment for the long-term sustainability of the energy sector. I urge you to act immediately to help Ukrainians get through this winter,» the Foreign Minister said, addressing the allies.

The Minister also informed the audience that Ukrainian intelligence has data on russia's preparations for attacks on critical nuclear energy facilities, which poses risks not only for Ukraine but also for its partners. He called for a strong collective response and warnings to moscow to avoid such a scenario.

«Firstly, Ukraine continues to work to strengthen the protection of these facilities. And here we count on your help. Secondly, we must respond decisively and quickly. Officially address russia and warn it to stop. Thirdly, we must ensure expanded expert missions at all relevant facilities,» the Minister said.

The Foreign Minister stressed that russian attacks against Ukraine's energy system constitute war crimes and russia must be held accountable for them.

Andrii Sybiha informed his colleagues about the current state of the Ukrainian power grid and the loss of energy capacity as a result of systematic russian attacks.

The Minister noted that Ukraine's goal is to restore the energy system in the short- and long-term, as well as to strengthen energy security and resilience.

According to the Foreign Minister, the development of distributed generation is an important factor in Ukraine's energy sustainability, so the allies should focus on providing new generating capacity.

The Foreign Minister stressed that the best solution to prevent further damage to Ukraine's energy system is to strengthen Ukraine's air shield.

«We are grateful for all the support, but we urgently need more air defence systems, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-drone systems and, last but not least, more missiles for air defence. We also need more MPADS, which have proven to be effective in shooting down russian drones,» the Minister said.

At the end of his speech, Andrii Sybiha stressed that Ukraine's long-term priority is full integration into the EU energy market with a decentralised, flexible and sustainable energy system based on renewable energy sources.

«The development of our energy sector will also be one of the drivers of our economic recovery. We would be very grateful for your help in attracting investment in this large-scale project. On the diplomatic front, our focus on energy sustainability should be implemented within the framework of the Peace Formula. One of its points concerns energy security. We invite all of you to actively participate in all relevant efforts aimed at implementing the Peace Formula,» the Minister concluded.

In their speeches, the allies noted the urgency of additional support, reported on the assistance that had already been provided and on the preparation of a number of new commitments and specific energy assistance packages.

Practical contributions to Ukraine's energy resilience ahead of winter announced by the allies include additional funding, air defence systems, increased import capacity, new generation sources, transformers, mobile generators and expert support.

Andrii Sybiha expressed his gratitude to the allies for their readiness to provide urgent additional support and expressed hope for the rapid implementation of the decisions taken.

The meeting resulted in the adoption of a joint G7+ statement on supporting Ukraine's energy resilience, in which the allies reaffirmed their readiness to provide additional support to the Ukrainian energy system, promote energy security and investments to strengthen its long-term sustainability.