US to help restore and protect the Ukrainian energy sector

The United States will help restore, diversify, and protect Ukraine's energy sector from Russian attacks, as well as make it compliant with European standards.

This was stated by Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Geoffrey Pyatt, RBC-Ukraine reports citing Voice of America.

Earlier, US Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker announced the allocation of $824 million to help the country's energy sector.

According to Pyatt, $500 million of this amount is new money, and $324 million is money that has already been approved by Congress. The US has now repurposed them to focus on prioritizing short-term reconstruction of the energy grid, which has been under targeted attacks by Russia in recent weeks.

Regarding the priorities of US assistance to Ukraine, Pyatt said that they are to support the entire sector and simultaneously reform it, when new clean energy sources should appear in addition to the reconstruction of old production facilities, which will eventually lead to a more resilient Ukrainian energy system.

He noted that US actions are guided by the priorities of the Ukrainian government.

"We are trying to help with the reconstruction of the old thermal power plant, which was destroyed by Russian attacks since March 22. We're also trying to accelerate work on new energy, more wind, more solar, and more storage. We've also heard the government's message of wanting to build a future energy system that is decentralized and inherently more resilient to Russian air attacks, and we support all the work that the government is doing," the Assistant Secretary of State added.

Pyatt emphasized that the most important task is to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"Of course, we're helping with more air defense, because that's also the number one requirement," he said.

According to the US Assistant Secretary of State, it is important for Ukraine's partners that Putin does not succeed in destroying Ukrainian infrastructure and cannot "turn winter into a weapon against Ukraine."

"The United States is going to lead the international effort to ensure that Ukraine achieves victory," Pyatt added.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 13/06/2024