Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has arrived in Kyiv to express support for the Ukrainian people, The Irish Times said.
Ireland will stand by Ukraine in the face of Russia’s “immoral and unprovoked war of terror,” Martin said ahead of his arrival in Kyiv this morning.
“The bombardment and attacks on civilians are nothing short of war crimes, and I will use my visit to express Ireland’s support for moves to hold those behind these attacks fully accountable,” Martin said.
The Prime Minister of Ireland has arrived in Kyiv, where he is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Martin will also discuss with the Ukrainian authorities how Ireland and the EU can support the current and future needs of the country.
The Irish government says that Martin will personally see the destruction due to bombing and targeted attacks on civilians during the invasion and occupation by Russian troops.
According to the statement, the prime minister “will reiterate Ireland’s full backing for continuing sanctions against Putin’s regime, for Ukraine’s path to full EU membership, as well as our commitment to work with EU colleagues to ensure the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
“The spirit and resolve of the Ukrainian people has inspired us all, and Ireland will provide every support for Ukraine’s path to full EU Membership, and continue to welcome and support civilians fleeing this war,” the prime minister said.
Martin was invited to Ukraine last month by President Zelensky.
The exact details of the visit last night were not released due to security concerns, but Martin was expected to travel to Kyiv by land from Poland.
Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov during the forum in Lugano (Switzerland) on Tuesday, July 5, presented a number of planned projects for the development of the country’s railway export infrastructure.
According to the information in the presentation that Kubrakov presented, in particular, among the projects: construction of new and modernization of existing railway lines (both 1435 and 1520 mm) in the direction of the border with the EU and the seaports of the Danube; modernization of rolling stock for freight traffic; modernization of equipment for changing the gauge.
The total cost of these projects is $1.5 billion.
Denmark will provide Ukraine with a financing package in the amount of EUR 13.5 million, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said.
“I am pleased to announce today that we will provide a financing package in the amount of EUR 13.5 million to support concrete measures before the start of winter,” he said on Tuesday during a conference on the restoration of Ukraine, which is being held in Lugano, Switzerland.
he Welsh government has allocated GBP 35 million for military assistance to Ukraine, Scotland has allocated GBP 65 million. Wales has accepted 3,000 Ukrainian refugees, Scotland – 6,000, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “The Welsh Government has contributed £35m to our military support for Ukraine, and Welsh families have taken in 3,000 refugees,” Johnson said on Twitter Monday.
According to him, he discussed with the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford the continuation of joint work against Russian aggression.
Johnson also wrote that he also talked with the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon.
“I’ve just spoken to Nicola Sturgeon to herald the success of UK collaboration supporting Ukraine. I thanked the Scottish Government’s £65 million contribution in upping UK’s military aid to Ukraine to £2.3 billion & efforts to help house 6,000 Ukrainian refugees,” he wrote.
Earlier, materials appeared in the media that allegedly the Welsh government did not agree on the allocation of GBP 35 million as part of a new package of British military assistance to Ukraine for GBP 1 billion.
Against the background of the war and with the aim of reconstruction, Switzerland will strengthen support for Ukraine, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said.
“Switzerland will double the funding in the framework of bilateral cooperation with Ukraine to more than 100 million francs by 2023 … Responding to the call of the Prime Minister (Denis Shmyhal), we will allocate at least 15 million francs for digital transformation,” he said at the Conference on the restoration of Ukraine in Lugano on Tuesday.
The President added that Switzerland also allocates funds to Ukraine on a multilateral basis through the UN, the World Bank, the EBRD and other organizations.
Cassis noted that the principles formalized later on Tuesday in the Luhansk Declaration would make it easier for Ukraine to raise funding for the Recovery Plan.
Transit of natural gas through the GTS of Ukraine in June 2022 amounted to 1.25 billion cubic meters. m, which is the minimum monthly volume since 1991.
According to the GTS Operator of Ukraine, the volume of transit for the last month is three times less than in June 2021 (3.72 billion cubic meters), and a quarter lower than in May 2022.
At the same time, Gazprom in June used only 38% of the booked capacity (3.29 billion cubic meters) under a long-term contract. “Combined with the restriction of transit through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, this leads to a “drainage” of the EU gas market and an increase in prices. As a result of the manipulative actions of Gazprom, gas prices in Europe have increased by almost 42% since the beginning of June,” noted in OGTSU.
“Obviously, Russia continues to blackmail Europe with a reduction in gas supplies, which is why its exchange price today already exceeds $1,600. “with the redirection of flows through Ukraine and Poland,” added the head of the operator Sergei Makogon.
As reported, the transit of natural gas through the GTS of Ukraine in 2021 amounted to 41.6 billion cubic meters. m, which is 25.4% less than in 2020 (55.8 billion cubic meters). In general, the transit capacities of the Ukrainian GTS in 2021 were used by less than 30%.
On the Ukrainian gas transport corridor in 2021-2024. there is a mandatory “reservation” for “Gazprom” – 40 billion cubic meters. m (109.6 million cubic meters per day) after 65 billion cubic meters. m (178 million cubic meters/day) in 2020.
