Russia refuses to take part in trilateral gas talks with Ukraine and the EU
Energy Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak said there will be no gas negotiations with Ukraine and the European Union, TASS reported.
"No trilateral negotiations are being planned as all the court proceedings are based on the contracts and relations between commercial organizations, particularly between Gazprom and Naftogaz. Only the said two companies must settle all these issues," Novak said.
According to the report, Naftogaz and Gazprom failed to agree on the conditions of natural gas imports despite the ruling by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC). This triggered termination of the supply of gas already paid for by Naftogaz.
Following Naftogaz's victory over Gazprom at the SCC, the Russian company terminated all effective contracts with the Ukrainian company. Ukraine was set to buy gas from Russia in March 2018 and instead ended up signing an urgent gas supply contract with Polish-based PGNiG.
The European Commission offered to mediate the Gazprom-Naftogaz conflict to address the situation.