EU President held telephonic conversation with Ukraine's President
EU President held telephonic conversation with Ukraine's President

The President of the European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen, held a telephonic conversation with the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, over the current situation between Russia and Ukraine.

Providing information about the conversation, the EU President tweeted, “Good phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. We discussed step by step the EU’s plan for relief and reconstruction in Ukraine put forward yesterday by the European Union Commission. A new disbursement of macro-financial assistance is coming very soon. We continue to stand firmly by Ukraine’s side”.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy asserted, “Maintain constant contact with Ursula von der Leyen. Thanked for € 9 and € 0.6 billion in financial aid. Discussed the EC-proposed “Platform for Reconstruction of Ukraine”, which should become a common success story. Agreed on the feasibility of joint control at the Ukraine-Poland border”.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered into 85th day, following which millions of Ukraine nationals left the country.

On the other hand, the EU has pledged to support Ukraine as well as the countries that are providing shelter to war-hit country’s refugees amid the Russian military invasion.

Speaking on reducing the dependency on Russian gas, the EU President cited, “We will increase the EU-wide target for renewable energy from 40 to 45% by 2030. We are also doubling our domestic hydrogen production target. We aim to produce, transport and import a total of 20 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030”.

“Obtaining a permit for wind projects can take up to 9 years. We can’t afford to wait that long. Our REPowerEU proposal of today fundamentally improves the permitting process”, she then added.

This initiative by the EU will drive the transition to clean energy by – Setting clear – and high – targets for renewable energy, Removing bottlenecks to investments, and Leveraging and de-risking private investment.