Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Transformers, air defences needed, Ukraine tells visiting ministers

Published 28/11/2022, 14:38
Updated 28/11/2022, 21:51
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told a gathering of seven Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers on Monday that his country needed transformers and improved air defences to stave off Russian air strikes on energy infrastructure.

Kuleba was flanked by officials from Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden ahead of a meeting of NATO military alliance foreign ministers in Bucharest on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"To restore the system we need two things," Kuleba told a news conference, as utility workers in Ukraine sought to restore power and other services in the aftermath of the latest Russian attacks last week.

"We need transformers. This is the biggest element of the energy infrastructure to be restored. And we need air defence that will allow us to shoot down Russian missiles targeting our infrastructure."

And he added: "But it's also important to have delegations like this in Ukraine. ... So to our colleagues, thank you."

The ministers issued a joint statement after their talks calling for efforts to improve Ukrainian air defences. They said the sovereignty and equal status of all countries would be under threat unless Russia faced a firm response for its attacks.

Earlier, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told Reuters in an interview that Western countries needed to boost their support for Kyiv.

"The strongest message from this visit is: Ukraine needs to win this war and therefore that the Western support should be stronger; more heavy weaponry without any political caveats, also including long distance missiles," Reinsalu said.

He called for a stronger package of sanctions on Russia, for Moscow's greater international isolation and the creation of "an international tribunal on the crime of aggression" by Russia.

Russia unleashed its latest barrage of missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure last Wednesday, causing sweeping blackouts across the country.

© Reuters. Foreign ministers of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, Lithuania's Gabrielius Landsbergis, Iceland's Thordis Gylfadottir and Sweden's Tobias Billstrom attend a joint news conference, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 28, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/Pool

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said: "We... are in Kyiv today in full solidarity with Ukraine. Despite Russia's bomb rains and barbaric brutality, Ukraine will win!"

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Twitter that the ministers had "discussed the tightening of sanctions, the reconstruction of energy infrastructure & financial support. Called for support for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.