Ukraine could consider continuing the transit of Russian gas on the condition that Moscow does not receive money for the fuel before the end of the war, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday.
Ukraine has previously ruled out extending the Russian gas transit contract to Europe, via Ukraine, which is due to expire at the end of the year. Slovakia, one of the recipients of the gas, rushed to extend the agreement.
“We will not extend the transit of Russian gas. We will not give the opportunity to earn additional billions on our blood, on the lives of our citizens,” Mr. Zelenskiy said at a press conference organized as part of of a European Union summit in Brussels.
But he added: “If the country is willing to give us the gas, but not pay the money back to Russia until the war is over, then that’s a possibility. We can think about it.”
The European Commission said it was ready for the contract to expire and all countries receiving Russian fuel via the Ukraine route to have access to other sources of supply.
Mr Zelenskiy criticized Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who warned of the economic consequences his country would suffer if it lost cheap gas supplied by Russia.
“To be honest, in war it is a bit shameful to talk about money, because we are losing people,” Mr. Zelenskiy said.
Mr. Zelenskiy said he told Mr. Fico on Thursday that Ukraine would be willing to transport another country’s gas through its infrastructure to reach Europe, but that it would need assurances that it would not This is not just re-labeled Russian fuel.
“We need to know that we will only transit gas if it does not come from Russia,” Mr. Zelenskiy said.
