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Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and Western partners have agreed to allocate more than €600 million in support for Ukraine’s energy sector following a meeting in Paris, according to Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal. The funding package includes more than €250 million in contributions to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, a separate United States assistance programme worth $276 million through the SPARK project, and €71 million in humanitarian energy assistance from France to be provided during 2026. The Paris meetings brought together representatives of the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, Latvia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland, and France. The support comes as Ukraine faces urgent needs to expand its energy generation capacity. Ukrainian officials have said that around 9.5 GW of new capacity will be required in the near future to stabilise the country’s energy system.

The UK will deploy a carrier strike group, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales to the Arctic and the High North as part of efforts to bolster security against Russian threats. British prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer announced the deployment in a speech on Saturday (14 February) at the Munich Security Conference. Europe must be ready to fight to protect its people, values, and way of life,  Sir Keir told the Conference. Starmer also called for deeper links and cooperation, including economic ties, between the UK and EU. The PM stressed the continent must "stand on its own two feet" when it comes to defence commitments. "We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age," he told the conference. (Click image to read the full story).