Distinguished speakers of the parliaments of the Group of Seven countries, dear friends!
Allow me to make a brief comment on the topic of our session.
Energy security is one of the central challenges that Ukraine faces as it continues to fight russian aggression.
russia has always demonstrated that energy is an instrument of its aggressive foreign policy, a means of blackmail and a geopolitical weapon.
And after the well-known “russian gas blackmail” that preceded the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, energy is as much a weapon for russia as tanks or soldiers.
Supporting and complementing the honourable Speaker McCarthy, who spoke about russian gas and emissions on the eve of his trip to Tokyo, I would like to emphasise that russian gas is dirty and dangerous not only from an environmental but also from a security and political point of view.
So, my first and foremost message is that we must completely get rid of our dependence on russian energy, including gas, and focus on diversifying our energy supply sources!
Today, by attacking civilian targets and destroying critical infrastructure, the russian regime has been and is primarily aiming to destroy the Ukrainian energy sector.
This is what terrorists do, and you must admit that russia is in fact a terrorist state.
As a result of missile and drone attacks, almost half of my country’s entire energy system has been damaged.
According to the World Bank, the damage to the energy, gas and heating infrastructure exceeds ten billion dollars.
In addition to direct attacks, there is the factor of occupation. The temporarily occupied territory is home to 21 GW of power generation capacity. Ukraine has lost 75% of its wind and more than 20% of its solar generation.
But the most painful was the seizure of Zaporizhzhia NPP, which provided almost half of Ukraine’s nuclear generation before the invasion.
The threat of a nuclear disaster is even worse than the loss of power generation.
The transformation of ZNPP into a military facility and the unpredictability of the occupiers’ actions put the world on the verge of a new Chornobyl or a new Fukushima.
You have seen russia’s brutal and cynical blowing up of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
So where is the fuse that will protect us from similar actions in Enerhodar?
We are grateful for the work of the IAEA, but it is obviously not enough.
Withdrawal of russian troops from the plant and demilitarisation of the ZNPP area is the only safe scenario.
This scenario is envisaged by the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
I am convinced that the time has come to impose sanctions against the nuclear sector of the russian federation. First of all, against rosatom and its subsidiaries.
Trade in nuclear fuel and technology is being converted by the kremlin into a weapon that kills Ukrainians.
So, the challenges are formidable, and we expect the situation to only get worse.
We expect new attacks on our energy system this autumn and winter.
I ask the Group of Seven countries and the European Union to be ready to support Ukraine and the resilience of our energy system.
First, we need power equipment.
We also need specialised transport, tools and materials.
In particular, these include electrical laboratories, rebar, traverses, reinforced concrete towers, satellite communications, backup power and fuel.
Any help and initiative is useful: both national decisions and solidarity programmes of local authorities, politicians and citizens.
Right now, I would like to thank the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, for her Generators of Hope programme.
This is an example, and I am proud that Ukraine has such friends.
Dear colleagues, the challenges of a full-scale war point us to the need to reconsider approaches to energy security.
Ukraine also has an ambitious plan to transform its energy sector.
First of all, we continue to move towards the integration of our energy system with the ENTSO-E European energy system.
Our task is to expand physical capabilities for exporting and importing electricity.
The next step is to increase natural gas production and storage.
We are implementing the concept of the “gas safe of Europe”, as we have the largest underground natural gas storage facilities in Europe, located at a depth of 400 to 2,000 metres.
I am convinced that for civilised companies, this is a completely reliable opportunity to store their gas and use it at better prices in winter.
In addition, Ukraine has significant natural gas deposits – from 600 billion to 1.1 trillion cubic metres.
We are working to attract international companies to increase production of these deposits, which are the second largest in Europe.
We are changing legislation and creating favourable conditions for energy companies that want to invest in gas production in Ukraine in the future.
Another track is renewable energy sources. We have our own Green Deal, based on the European one, and we aim to bring carbon-free electricity generation to 100% by 2050 at least.
Ukraine has some of the best conditions in the region for the development of renewable energy generation, bioenergy and, at the start, one of the most powerful carbon-free generators – nuclear power.
To sum up, I would like to emphasise that energy security is one of our priorities.
This is one of the ten points of the Peace Formula, which concerns not only Ukraine or Europe, but also the principles by which such energy security should exist for everyone in our world.
russia’s so-called “energy policy”, or rather “energy terrorism”, endangers each of us.
This includes unstable markets, supply chains, price conditions, economic crises and inflation.
We need to develop universal mechanisms.
Counteract such threats now and in the future.
To create a system of energy solidarity, as well as a system of punishment for energy aggression.
All these are elements for a reliable and sustainable peace and prosperity of all our countries.
Thank you for your attention!