On 21 November 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krišjānis Kariņš, participated in a G7+ Foreign Ministers video meeting. During the meeting, Krišjānis Kariņš informed the participants about Latvia’s assistance to Ukraine’s energy sector, both in recent months and in the near future, through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism. The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that Latvia would help Ukraine to get through the upcoming winter.
In addition to the high-voltage equipment and materials already sent to repair Ukraine’s damaged energy infrastructure, the Ministry of Economics of Latvia plans to send 32 diesel generators to Chernihiv by the end of this year, mainly for educational institutions. The Foreign Minister also elaborated on Latvia’s involvement in the reconstruction of Chernihiv Oblast.
The G7+ Foreign Ministers’ video meeting discussed the planned support for the reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, who briefed the participants on the current energy situation in Ukraine and potential energy challenges in the coming winter.
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The format G7+ Foreign Ministers was established in early November 2022 to coordinate support for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and humanitarian needs. The U.S. Department of State took the initiative to coordinate the G7+ format. The G7 countries, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania, Norway, Sweden, the European External Action Service, the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme, the Energy Community, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank currently participate in it.
