US transportation chief visits Ukraine, names new infrastructure adviser
2023.11.08 16:12
© Reuters. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg listens as U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on infrastructure during an event at the Amtrak maintenance facility in Bear, Delaware, U.S., November 6, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the latest senior federal official to visit Ukraine, announced in Kyiv on Wednesday a new American infrastructure adviser for the country.
Robert Mariner, who has performed engineering work for the U.S. Air Force and Navy, will serve as transportation advisor to Ukraine after serving as an advisor to the transportation counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan.
Buttigieg met with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other senior government officials.
“Transportation is critically important to Ukraine’s ability to import goods and to export Ukrainian products,” Buttigieg told reporters in Kyiv, adding there was also “a lot of interest here in the future of the aviation sector, which we discussed.”
USDOT assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs Annie Petsonk accompanied Buttigieg on the trip.
Buttigieg, who met with Ukrainian officials to discuss the country’s economic recovery and the impact of the war on its supply chains, particularly port and rail infrastructure, said Ukraine had asked that a U.S. infrastructure advisor be named.
The adviser “will be in Kyiv to provide technical assistance on project delivery as part of the country’s rebuilding efforts,” Buttigieg said on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has coordinated similar advisory roles at U.S. embassies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heavily damaged Ukraine’s infrastructure. Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Wednesday that Russia had attacked the energy infrastructure 60 times in recent weeks. Russia has also heavily targeted port infrastructure.
Ukraine said last month that the U.S. would provide nearly $700 million to help modernize checkpoints, ports and railways, part of an effort to improve logistics and increase export capacity. Penny Pritzker, the new U.S Special Representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery, visited the country for the first time in October.
