Zelenskyy on gas transit: Agreement with Russia won't be extended
Ukraine will not extend the agreement with Russia regarding the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, which is set to expire at the end of 2024, but is prepared to discuss the transit of gas through its territory with other suppliers if Europe requests it.
Source: President Zelenskyy during a press-conference in Kyiv on 27 August, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine
Details: "No one is going to extend the agreement with Russia, that’s the end of it. As for the transit of gas from other suppliers, then if there is demand from some of our European partners – we’re all in the European Union – we will consider their request," Zelenskyy said.
He also said he did not have information about the recent meeting of Russian and Azerbaijani leaders.
"I have no idea what [Russian leader Vladimir Putin] was discussing in Azerbaijan. I don’t think it was gas. I think there are other issues," Zelenskyy said.
Background:
- In late July, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan and Russia were in the process of negotiating the possibility of continuing the transit of natural gas through Ukraine, with the Russian-Ukrainian contract set to expire in 2024. According to Aliyev, the Ukrainian authorities and the European Union have asked Azerbaijan to assist in extending the contract.
- In a comment on Aliyev’s claim, Oleksii Chernyshov, the CEO of Naftogaz, the largest national oil and gas company in Ukraine, said that the EU and Ukraine are looking for ways to ensure sustainable gas supplies to Europe after the termination of the 2024 Ukrainian-Russian transit contract, and one of them could be the supply of Azerbaijani gas.
- In early August, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that no proposals had been received from Azerbaijan, but they could yet materialise.
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