European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday announced plans for Brussels to lend Ukraine €35 billion backed by revenues of frozen Russian assets and promised to help Ukraine "keep warm" ahead of a third winter of war.The talks on energy security come amid ongoing Russian airstrikes targeting the country's power grid.
Von der Leyen's visit comes after a summer of intense fighting with Moscow's troops pressing an advance in the east and Kyiv holding on to swathes of Russia's Kursk region.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that this winter will be "by far" the toughest for Ukraine, with a large part of the country's energy infrastructure already damaged by Russia's bombing campaigns.
"The European Union is here to help you in this challenge to keep the lights on, to keep your people warm and keep your economy going as you fight for your survival," von der Leyen said.
"We are now confident that we can deliver this loan to Ukraine very quickly, a loan that is backed by the windfall profits from immobilised Russian assets," she added, speaking alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky is expected visit to presidential candidates in Washington in the coming days to present Kyiv proposals on how to end more than two and a half years of fighting.
Offering Europe's support
The EU's loan proposal – which needs to be signed off by member states – is part of a bigger plan agreed by G7 powers in June to use the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to loan Kyiv $50 billion (€44 billion).
The EU has frozen roughly $235 billion (€210 billion) of Russian central bank funds since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the vast bulk of immobilised Russian assets worldwide.
Von der Leyen – who arrived by train from Poland on Friday morning – also said that Brussels will "help repair the damages done by the Russian strikes" to Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
"We will aim to restore 2.5 gigawatt of capacity this winter, that is approx 15 percent of your country's needs for this winter," she said.
The IEA chief Fatih Birol warned a day earlier that this winter will prove the "sternest test yet" for Ukraine's war-battered energy-grid.
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The agency put forward a plan on how to safeguard Kyiv's energy grid, with Birol saying: "We must keep the brave people of Ukraine warm."
The previous two winters in Ukraine saw thousands regularly without power and heating in freezing temperatures as Russia systematically targeted energy infrastructure.
An IEA report said that in 2022 and 2023 about "half of Ukraine's power generation capacity was either occupied by Russian forces, destroyed or damaged, and approximately half of the large network substations were damaged by missiles and drones."
In Kyiv, von der Leyen laid flowers at a memorial to soldiers killed in the fighting.
"They are real heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for the security of our continent as a whole," she said on X.
Accession to Europe
The EU chief is also due to discuss EU accession talks for Ukraine, launched in June this year.
Russia's war in Ukraine has reinvigorated a push in the EU to take on new members, but there has been some frustration in Kyiv – which has had two pro-EU revolutions in the past 20 years – that talks are too slow.
Von der Leyen's trip also comes as Ukraine has lobbied its allies to allow it to use donated weapons to strike "legitimate" military targets deep in Russian territory.
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The United States and Britain have been discussing allowing it to do just that – but EU states remain divided over the issue.
On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on EU countries to allow Kyiv to use Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.
Washington currently authorises Ukraine to only hit Russian targets in occupied parts of Ukraine and some in Russian border regions directly related to Moscow's combat operations.
(with AFP)
