Von der Leyen in Kyiv to discuss support for Ukraine
· RTE.ieEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to discuss Europe's support, winter preparedness, defence and progress on the G7 loans.
"My 8th visit to Kyiv comes as the heating season starts soon, and Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure," Ms von der Leyen said on the X social network.
Ms Von der Leyen said yesterday that the sum of €160m from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets would be allocated to meet Ukraine's urgent humanitarian needs for this winter.
Russia has knocked out about 9 gigawatts (GW) of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which Ms von der Leyen said was the "power equivalent of the three Baltic states".
She also said that the EU aimed to restore 2.5GW of power generating capacity and would increase exports to supply 2GW of electricity to Ukraine.
Ms von der Leyen will meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has dragged on for more than 30 months, with Ukraine now controlling parts of Russia's Kursk region while Moscow presses an advance into eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine has lobbied its allies to allow it to use donated weapons to strike "legitimate" military targets deep in Russian territory.
The US and Britain have been discussing allowing it to do just that - but EU states remain divided over the issue.
The European Parliament yesterday adopted a resolution calling on EU countries to allow Kyiv to use Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.
Washington currently authorises Ukraine to only hit Russian targets in occupied parts of Ukraine and some in Russian border regions directly related to Moscow's combat operations.
World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
World leaders will meanwhile descend on the UN's New York HQ from Sunday for the organisation's annual signature gathering against a backdrop of raging wars, growing populism and diplomatic deadlock.
The summit will be followed by the high-level week at which the UN's 193 members will address each other, kicking off with Brazil.
That will be followed by the United States, with US President Joe Biden due to speak.
The leaders of China and Russia will be absent as in past years, but Mr Zelensky, Britain's Keir Starmer and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be present.
Mr Zelensky was the star attraction in 2023, but one diplomat said he would struggle to stay in the spotlight this year as he presents his "plan for victory".
Ahead of the gala events, a security ring of steel was being erected around the UN's riverfront HQ and local people and businesses braced for traffic paralysis caused by the endless VIP motorcades and street closures.