NATO Foreign Ministers are meeting for additional support to Kyiv
The United States will announce new aid to Ukraine on Tuesday to help restore its power system as the country faces another week of cold and darkness after its energy infrastructure was hit hard by the Russian bombings.
Since the beginning of October, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s power plants, as well as the electricity distribution network, as well as water pumping stations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expects new Russian attacks this week, which could be as fierce as last one, which left millions without water, electricity and heating.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who arrived in Bucharest today, will announce new aid to Ukraine to restore its power grid, a senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity.
Washington is working with US companies and European countries to find equipment and parts to repair damage to high-voltage substations in Ukraine, the official explained.
Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, has announced that it will cut electricity supply by 60% to consumers in Kyiv.
The grid operator, Ukrenergo, pointed out yesterday, Monday, that it had been forced to repeat the emergency power outages across the country.
In Kherson, which has been without electricity and heating since Russian forces left earlier in November, regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said 24 percent of consumers now have electricity.
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a meeting of his counterparts from seven Baltic and Scandinavian countries that his country needs transformers and better anti-aircraft defense.
NATO
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will ask Alliance countries to pledge more aid to Kyiv when foreign ministers meet today and tomorrow in Bucharest.
A key issue in these talks will be the increase in military aid to Kyiv, such as air defense and ammunition, but also the provision of non-lethal aid.
Some of that non-lethal aid — which includes fuel, medical equipment, winter gear and anti-drone jamming devices, among other things — is delivered to Ukraine through a NATO aid package to which member countries contribute and which Stoltenberg wants to strengthen
“It’s going to be a horrible winter for Ukraine as we work to increase our support to make it more resilient,” commented a European diplomat.
Germany, which holds the rotating G7 presidency, has scheduled a Group of 7 meeting with some of its partners on the sidelines of NATO talks as it looks for ways to speed up the repair of damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Foreign ministers will also discuss Ukraine’s request to join Nato, but are expected to merely reaffirm the alliance’s open-door policy, with the war-torn country’s accession looking a long way off.
Christmas
Snow is falling in Kyiv and the temperature is hovering around zero, while millions of residents of the capital struggle to heat their homes.
Christmas trees will be decorated, but without lights, across the city in a sign that Kiev residents are defying Russian attacks, officials said.
“We cannot allow Putin to steal Christmas from us,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told the RBC-Ukraine news agency.
With Russian forces retreating to the northeast and across the Dnieper River to the south, the front line is about half as long as it was a few months ago, making it difficult for Ukrainian forces to find weak spots and attempt a new counterattack.
Ukraine’s army general staff announced late Monday that Russian forces were heavily shelling towns on the west bank of the Dnieper, including Kherson.
In addition, Moscow is bombing the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk province, while in the north it bombed areas around the cities of Kupyansk and Liman, which were recently recaptured by Kyiv.
Ukrainian forces damaged a railway bridge north of Russian-held Melitopol in southern Ukraine, which is critical for transporting supplies to Russian forces in the area.
RES-EMP
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