European Commission confirms date for gas transit negotiations with Ukraine and Russia
The trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the EU and Russia on gas transit will take place on July 17. Unofficial information about this appeared on Wednesday, July 4, and on Thursday it was confirmed by European Commission (EC) Vice President Maroš Šefčovič in a statement on the EC’s official website.
“Constructive and stable co-operation between Russia and Ukraine in the field of energy is of utmost importance for both countries and the European Union. The need for a continued, long-term transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to the EU in a reliable, commercially viable way is an indispensable part of it,” he said.
Šefčovič noted that the Ukrainian and Russian sides will be represented at the talks by both governments and commercial entities.
“Our aim is to agree on our long-term agenda as well as our working method,” the EC vice president observed.
Šefčovič stressed that time is of the essence for the negotiations. He believes that a trilateral process is “the most effective platform to seek a satisfactory solution to the gasmatters important for involved parties and to gas transit via Ukraine beyond 2019”.
Ukraine is working to obtain a guarantee from the EU that Russian gas transit through the country will continue. So far, Ukraine has been partially successful in obtaining verbal guarantees to that effect. In the middle of May, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that Russia does not intend to stop gas transit through Ukraine once the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is brought online. Putin said that the gas transit will continue if it is “economically justified for the participants in the economic activity”.