The French president, Emmanuel Macron, opened
the conference on Ukraine in Paris
by stating that the goal is to achieve "very concrete" results to allow the Ukrainian population to "resist during the winter".
"We want to help the Ukrainians resist during the winter", Macron repeated several times, adding that "Russia is acting cowardly" and "trying to sow terror in the population" by destroying its civilian infrastructure.
"It's cold in Ukraine, Russia is bombing, trying to cut off water, electricity, gas and for this reason today there are 70 states and international organizations gathered here to give concrete answers, generators, reconstruction", he echoed the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna.
The Conference, Macron confirmed, will launch a mechanism for better coordination of international aid
, relying on the European Union's civil protection mechanism.
Speaking via videoconference,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained that "Ukraine needs at least 800 million euros
in emergency aid for the energy sector".
And he said that everything possible will be done to deal with the blackout and energy terror.
"Most of our power plants are damaged by Russian bombing. Every day our engineers have to disconnect millions of Ukrainians from the electricity grid."
Paris, announced the French president, has pledged aid to Ukraine for 125 million euros, the other countries of the Paris Conference for another 400 million, "a figure that will increase during the day".
The French aid "will cover the sectors of access to energy and electricity, access to water, food aid, health and transport infrastructures, civil security and demining actions".
The aid will make it possible "in particular to send 63 new high-power electric generators in the very short term.
Arriving at the conference,
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani
said that "Italy is ready to do its part to help the Ukrainian population. It's not just a military issue. We have sent dozens and dozens of tons of electrical equipment , of transformers, of switches, to allow Ukraine to have a functioning electricity grid during the winter and also to favor the heating of the civilian population".
“The Ukrainian spirit remains intact and unyielding. We need to help Ukrainians get through the winter, and for as long as it takes. That is what brings us to Paris today. Europe is providing more support to Ukraine as temperatures We are supplying 800 energy generators, for example, and soon up to 30 million LED bulbs, which can contribute to valuable energy savings".
This was stated
by the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen
.
"Furthermore, we are setting up a new EU hub in Poland to provide energy and health assistance to Ukraine. It will be operational from next week and open to any third country donor".