At the conference “Standing with the Ukrainian people,” held in Paris on Tuesday, about 70 countries and institutions worldwide pledged over €1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) in immediate aid to help Ukraine get through its harsh winter, Reuters reported.
Some €415 million of this amount is intended for Ukraine’s energy sector, hammered by Russian air strikes, according to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. The rest of the funds will be channeled to Ukraine’s health, food, water and transport sectors, with almost €500 million still to be allocated, she said.
She also pointed out that the participation of non-Western countries such as Qatar and Cambodia in the conference shows a widening of support for Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered a speech in which she made several important announcements. She said the European Union is working to increase the amount of electricity that can traded between Ukraine, Moldova and the rest of Europe. “This is vital because we need to keep the Ukrainian grid functioning despite the Russian bombs.
Meanwhile, the EU have provided 40 large generators to ensure uninterrupted power supply to 30 hospitals in the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhya, Mykolayiv and Kherson. “This comes on top of around 800 generators we are sending all across the country right now. We all know that this kind of assistance can literally save lives,” she said.
The European Commission is ready to mobilize €30 million to cover the procurement of roughly 30 million LED light bulbs for Ukrainians. “In these times of literal suffering and darkness, it is so important to bring light to Ukraine,” the EC president stressed.
She also announced that a new hub is being set up in Poland, which will become operational already this week – a network of warehouses from which goods can be transferred effectively into Ukraine in a rapid, reliable and cost-effective manner.
“I think we do learn the lessons of these ten months of atrocious Russian war. Putin’s war of aggression failed mainly because of two reasons. The first one is the bravery and the courage of the Ukrainian people – unbelievably impressive. The second one is the international community’s remarkable unity. Let us stay strong in this unity; let us stand up for Ukraine. And let us literally bring light to Ukraine.”
Photo: Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna pose as they arrive to attend the international conference “Standing with the Ukrainian People” in Paris, France, December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Speech by EC President von der Leyen at the conference “Standing with the Ukrainian people”
