Learning from Ukraine – discussion at the Federal Foreign Office about energy security

Energy systems are vulnerable – including in Germany and Europe. Sightings of Russian drones, acts of sabotage and hybrid warfare leave us in no doubt that we need to protect our critical infrastructure more than ever today. Ukraine, which has been defending itself against Russia’s illegal war of aggression for over four years, shows how this protection can be achieved effectively and on a long-term basis.

With the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the participation of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Foreign Office is hosting the international conference, Energy Security – Lessons from Ukraine, on 19 May 2026. At this event, we are bringing together participants from 40 countries, representatives of the G7, EU and NATO, international institutions, business people, associations, academia and civil society.

Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is a constant target of Russian aggression. Even after the end of the harsh winter, Russia is continuing its targeted destruction of infrastructure. The people of Ukraine are standing up resolutely against this. They have learned how to protect their energy supply against Russian attacks and how to rebuild it quickly. We, too, can benefit from the experience Ukraine has acquired in the past four years by working with the country, also with a view to protecting our own energy systems.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul commented as follows ahead of the conference: “For over four years, Russia has been unsuccessfully attempting to drive Ukraine into a blackout. Since then, the opposite has happened, with Ukraine demonstrating a remarkable ability to adapt and innovate under pressure. Germany is Ukraine’s largest supporter in the energy sector. At the same time, we can learn from the country’s expertise and resilience in order to strengthen our own critical energy infrastructure. At today’s conference, we will forge closer ties between policymakers, the business sector and civil society in order to ensure even greater security for our countries in the future.”

In the run-up to the conference, Katherina Reiche, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy stated: “When we talk about energy, we are talking about security. Russia’s brutal actions against Ukraine show how attacks on the energy supply can be deliberately targeted against the population. However, Ukraine proves its determination every day to foster the resilience of its infrastructure. We can learn from this for our systems in Germany. We are actively supporting Ukraine via the international Ukraine Energy Support Fund.”

Details

The conference is part of the strategic partnership agreed a few weeks ago at the German-Ukrainian intergovernmental consultations.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will open the event. Denys Shmyhal, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Ukraine, will give the keynote speech.

The discussions will start with a panel made up of Katherina Reiche, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy; Mihai Popșoi, Moldovan Foreign Minister; Greg Orencsak, Canadian Deputy Minister of Natural Resources; Jean Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, NATO Assistant Secretary General – Cyber and Digital Transformation; Stefan Kapferer, CEO of the power transmission company 50Hertz; Maxim Timchenko, CEO of the Ukrainian energy company DTEK and Olena Pavlenko, President of the Ukrainian NGO DiXi Group.

Later on in the day, there will be a discussion on protecting critical infrastructure, rapidly rebuilding decentralised and efficient energy generation, further international support for Ukraine’s energy sector and current formats such as the G7+ Ukraine Energy Coordination Group and the Ukraine Energy Support Fund.

The latest information is available at https://energysecurity-ukraine.org.