The United States Department of Energy and the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, hereinafter referred to as the PARTICIPANTS:

WISHING to further enhance strategic bilateral energy and climate cooperation between the United States and Ukraine;

REAFFIRMING the importance of energy security as Ukraine seeks to decarbonize its economy, advance the prosperity of all of its citizens, and further integrate with the European Union;

RECOGNIZING the urgency of addressing climate change and containing the rise in global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as was stated in the Paris Agreement, and the need to reduce emissions that compromise human health and economic productivity, such as nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate;

ACKNOWLEDGING that the United States can help Ukraine achieve these energy, climate, environmental, and economic goals by supporting its efforts to increase clean energy production, energy efficiency, regulatory independence, good corporate governance, competitive and transparent energy markets, and foreign investment;

CONSIDERING the need to strengthen and expand cooperation in the use of nuclear and other forms of clean energy, such as solar, wind, hydrogen, biomass, as well as in energy storage, integration of renewable energy, and demand-side efficiency technologies;

RECOGNIZING the need to ensure the resiliency of the country’s critical energy infrastructure to both cyber- and physical-attack, and to other malign efforts to disrupt Ukraine’s ability to meet the energy needs of its citizens;

INTEND TO PROCEED AS FOLLOWS:

1. The Participants intend to deepen and intensify their Strategic Energy and Climate Dialogue (SECD), first launched in 2018 as the Strategic Energy Dialogue.

2. Within the framework of the SECD, the Participants intend to work to enhance good corporate governance at Ukraine’s energy sector state-owned enterprises, including through the recruitment of international independent supervisory boards staffed by subject matter experts.

3. The Participants intend to work to ensure the independence of the energy regulator and to assist Ukraine in developing more competitive and transparent energy markets, including through market-based pricing, and work with the Government of Ukraine to build public support through public diplomacy efforts.

4. The Participants intend to work to decarbonize Ukraine’s economy and ensure its energy security and export potential by developing and implementing a comprehensive energy sector plan, one that provides for mutually beneficial cooperation in nuclear energy, solar and wind energy, hydrogen, energy storage, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), cyber and physical security, and other supply and demand-side technologies.

5. The Participants intend to coordinate with and involve other Departments of the United States Government and Ministries of the Government of Ukraine, as appropriate, and to coordinate with other members of the international donor community to avoid duplication of effort and take maximum advantage of assistance already underway.

6. The Participants intend to work to advance Ukraine’s efforts to achieve greater integration with the European Union, including through modernization and construction of key energy infrastructure.

7. To advance these strategic goals and expand bilateral cooperation, the Participants intend to hold the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Energy and Climate Dialogue in the coming months.

This Joint Statement is made in Washington, D.C. (U.S.), with the approval of and in the presence of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy on this date 31 of August, 2021, in duplicate, each in the Ukrainian and English languages, both texts being equally valid.