Fri Sep 20 05:53:00 UTC 2024: ## EU President Von der Leyen Arrives in Kyiv to Discuss Winter Support and Defense
**KYIV, Ukraine -** European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv on Friday for a visit focused on strengthening European support for Ukraine amidst the ongoing war with Russia.
The visit comes as Ukraine prepares for the upcoming winter season, with Russia continuing to target energy infrastructure. Von der Leyen announced the allocation of €160 million from frozen Russian assets to address Ukraine’s urgent humanitarian needs this winter.
“My 8th visit to Kyiv comes as the heating season starts soon, and Russia keeps targeting energy infrastructure,” von der Leyen said on the X social network.
Recognizing the damage inflicted by Russia, which has knocked out approximately 9 gigawatts of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the EU aims to restore 2.5 GW of power generation capacity and increase electricity exports to provide an additional 2 GW of supply to Ukraine.
During her visit, President von der Leyen is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials to discuss further support for Ukraine’s defense and progress on G7 loan commitments.
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