Minister Bogdan Aurescu participated, on Tuesday, in the G7+ meeting at the level of foreign ministers, on the topic of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, held on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial meeting organized in Bucharest, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to Agerpres.

It is the first time that a G7 meeting is hosted by Romania and it is also the first time that Romania is invited to participate in a G7 meeting, through Minister Aurescu, thus reconfirming „Romania’s essential role in facilitating the support given by the international community to Ukraine”.

„The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Annalena Baerbok, and took place in the presence of the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, being focused on identifying solutions for restoring the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, significantly affected by the Russian missile attacks of the last period. The meeting, held in a hybrid format, was attended by ministers of foreign affairs or other high representatives from the G7 states (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, USA), as well as from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland , Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, together with representatives of NATO, the European Union, the EBRD and the World Bank,” the quoted source mentions.

The head of Romanian diplomacy, Bogdan Aurescu, highlighted, in his intervention, the importance of solidarity and joint efforts to strengthen the energy security of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, in order to build a more resilient, integrated and stable regional energy sector. He showed that, against the background of the critical developments generated by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Romania contributes directly to finding solutions for the most pressing regional energy problems, such as ensuring about 80 percent of the total electricity consumption needs of the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions.

At the same time, Minister Aurescu emphasized that the international community’s efforts must be urgently directed to the repair of the electricity transport infrastructure in Ukraine, as well as to addressing the structural problems that currently limit the options of granting emergency aid to Ukraine through the supply of electricity. The Romanian official also highlighted the difficulties encountered by the Republic of Moldova as a result of the bombings in Ukraine and showed that there is a need to improve the connections of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova with the EU, the press release reads.

„Minister Bogdan Aurescu evoked, in this context, the meeting in Odesa, on September 15, 2022, of the Trilateral format, initiated by the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, to which the energy ministers from the three states were also invited, and within which common lines of action were agreed for the development of interconnectivity and the consolidation of the energy security of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, in the medium and long term. On a broader level, Minister Bogdan Aurescu reconfirmed Romania’s commitment to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, including the rehabilitation of its energy system, as well as for the active involvement in the efforts undertaken in this regard in the European and Euro-Atlantic formats of dialogue and coordination,” the MAE press release further reads.

Agerpres