Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu signed three memorandums of understanding via video conference Jan. 4 in Taipei City to help people in Ukraine survive the severe winter.
Under the MOUs signed with Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Syenkevych and Hanna Hopko, founder and chair of Ukrainian nongovernmental organization ANTS, on behalf of Kherson, Taiwan will donate US$2 million to the three cities to purchase generators and heating equipment.
According to the MOFA, it has been more than 300 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia continued to launch air strikes on Ukraine even while the entire world was celebrating the new year, the ministry said.
As a result of the ongoing war, most of Ukraine has been left without electricity, and the people had to spend the New Year’s Eve in darkness and extreme temperatures, the ministry said, citing remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a recent speech.
The latest MOUs follow one signed by Wu last month on the donation of US$1 million for Kyiv to procure emergency power generation equipment. The first shipment of such equipment was delivered earlier this month to the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, the ministry added.
Standing on the front line of authoritarian expansion, Taiwan and Ukraine share a firm belief in freedom and democracy and are both resolute in their determination to defend national sovereignty, the MOFA said, adding that the government and people of Taiwan will continue to stand with Ukraine in its time of need. (SFC-E)
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