INTRODUCTION CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT UKRAINE’S PLACE IN THE COMMON ENERGY POLICY OF THE EU: A RECIPIENT OF PRACTICES OR AN INITIATIVE PARTNER? Mykhailo Drapak, Oleksandr Kraiev December 2022 Ò Russian energy supplies to Europe have been a major threat both to European energy resilience and political impartiality. The European approach to the role of Russian gas as”intermediate fuel” in the context of the Green Deal proved to be a strategic misstep. Ò Current Ukrainian energy challenges – attacks on the electricity supply network, seizing Ukrainian power plants, creating obstacles for gas transit, etc. – are directly connected to Russian aggression. They need a prompt response and can be overcome with a proactive financial and political stance on the part of the EU. Ò Ukraine and its EU partners need a concerted search for alternative suppliers of key traditional energy resources to meet the needs of the market before full decarbonisation. 1