Azerbaijan mediated Russia-Ukraine gas talks for year, but no deal struck – Reuters
Pravda Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine have not reached an agreement on the continuation of Russian gas transit through Ukraine to Europe, despite Azerbaijan’s mediation efforts.
Source: Reuters, citing a senior source in the Azerbaijani energy company SOCAR
Details: The EU and Ukraine are said to have asked Azerbaijan to facilitate negotiations with Russia on a gas transit agreement, which expires at the end of this year.
On Thursday, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said that a new agreement with Kyiv for gas transit to Europe was no longer possible.
Ukraine, which has been resisting a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022, announced that it will not renew the contract, under which about 15 billion cubic metres of Russian gas is transported annually through Ukrainian territory to Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Thursday that Kyiv might consider continuing the transit of Russian gas, but only if Russia does not receive payment for it until the war ends. However, this condition is unlikely to be accepted by Moscow.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that the transit agreement will expire on the morning of 1 January, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. He added that transit can be resumed only for non-Russian gas if a request from the European Commission is received.
The SOCAR source claimed that the company had been mediating negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian energy companies for almost a year at the request of Ukraine and the EU.
The source noted that high-level executives met with representatives of Ukrainian energy companies on 2 May in Istanbul and 29 August in Vienna, adding: “In the end, the Ukrainian and Russian sides could not agree on the terms”.
Background:
- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom’s internal plans for 2025 assume that gas transit to Europe through Ukraine will no longer be carried out after 31 December 2024.
- Slovakia will hold a series of negotiations to secure Russian gas supplies after the current transit contract through Ukraine expires.
- SPP, Slovakia’s largest energy supplier, has issued a declaration of support for gas transit through Ukraine.
- On Thursday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the possibility of continuing gas supplies through Ukraine.
- Kremlin leader Putin says the contract for Russian gas transit through Ukraine will no longer exist, but Gazprom will “get through it”.
- The Ukrainian gas transmission system will be able to transport gas only of non-Russian origin effective 07:00 on 1 January 2025.
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