European leaders meet to plan humanitarian assistance for Ukraine during winter

The EU unites the humanitarian community ahead of the winter and concerns about the fallout of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

A meeting between key EU crisis management figures opened on September 26 to discuss EU strategy to deal with the crisis and its humanitarian issues.

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič will work with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Olha Stefanishyna to discuss and coordinate responses to the conflict. The delegation will discuss likely challenges and ways to overcome them.

Organisations participating include the Red Cross, the World Bank, EU funded organisations and other individual humanitarian organisations.

Lenarčič highlighted the challenges ahead saying, “The upcoming winter will be one of the harshest Ukrainians are ever going to face. In addition to Russia’s ruthless attacks, Ukrainians will be threatened by freezing temperatures due to damaged housing and heating systems”. Through dialogue with the international humanitarian community, Lenarčič said the Commission hopes to create a “unified and coordinated approach” and “continue supporting Ukraine through all the hardships to come”.