Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze met with representatives of the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag. They came to Ukraine to assess the situation on the ground and to determine, in which areas Ukraine most needs support. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze thanked Germany and the German people for helping Ukraine. “We hope that this aid will increase. We need weapons to defend ourselves, the advocacy of Ukraine in the world and support on the way to European integration,” said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze. Regarding the progress on the way to the EU, she expressed hope that the EU will approve a negotiating framework for Ukraine already in June this year. Then Ukraine will be able to focus on the tasks it has to complete.

The Chair of the Committee emphasised that Ukraine urgently needs means of air defence because Russia kills Ukrainians every day and destroys its energy infrastructure. Also, Ukraine is in dire need of artillery shells. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze stressed the importance of the bilateral security agreement between Ukraine and Germany. At the same time, she emphasised that in no way bilateral agreements may be considered as a substitute for Ukraine's membership in NATO. “Only Ukraine's membership in the Alliance can guarantee not only our security in the long term but also the security of the entire continent and the preservation of the international legal order. We understand that there is currently no appetite to invite Ukraine to NATO, however, from my point of view, this is a big mistake,” said the Chair of the Committee.

She stressed the need to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure. According to Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia, when attacking the energy system, focused mostly on energy transmission facilities. Therefore, Ukraine managed to quickly find resources and conduct repairs. Today, the Russian Federation destroys electricity generation. The Chair of the Committee emphasised that to protect the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, unanimity in the EU is needed to support the German initiative regarding providing Ukraine with air defence. Also, according to her, Ukraine needs investments and support in rebuilding the energy infrastructure for both state and private players. No less important is the sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation, in particular, the introduction of sanctions against the Russian energy giant Rosatom.

During the meeting, internal political processes in Ukraine were also discussed. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze emphasised that even under martial law, the state system remains fully functional. At the same time, according to the Chair of the Committee, the cooperation between the branches of power needs to be restarted. “It is necessary to reach a new level of communication and quality cooperation between the Parliament, the Government and the President,” said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.