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, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Geoffrey Pyatt says.
Earlier, US Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker announced the allocation of $824 million to help Ukraine'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 appear in addition to the reconstruction of old production facilities, which will eventually lead to a more resilient Ukrainian energy system.
He notes that the US actions are guided by the priorities of the Ukrainian government.
The Assistant Secretary of State adds that the US is trying to help with the reconstruction of the old thermal power plant, which had been destroyed by Russia's attacks on March 22. The US is also working to accelerate projects on new energy, including more wind, solar, and battery storage. He notes that they had heard the Ukrainian government's message about wanting to build a future energy system that was decentralized and therefore more resilient to Russian air attacks and expressed support for all the efforts in this regard.
Pyatt emphasizes that the most important task is to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
He states that the US is, of course, helping with more air defense, as it was the number one requirement.
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.
Pyatt adds that the United States is going to lead the international effort to ensure that Ukraine is victorious.
Ukraine's recovery
On June 11, Berlin hosted the first day of the International Conference on Ukraine's Recovery.
Its goal is to consolidate support to meet urgent needs, implement quick-win projects, and create an attractive environment for business and private investment.
Read about the results of the first day of the International Conference on Ukraine's Recovery in RBC-Ukraine report.