Moscow and kyiv have failed to agree on an Azerbaijan-brokered deal to continue Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine, a top source told Reuters on Friday (December 20). placed by the Azeri energy company SOCAR.
The development ends hopes that gas transiting through Ukraine will continue to flow after December 31, when a long-term gas transit contract between Moscow and kyiv ends.
Ukraine, which has been fighting the Russian invasion since February 2022, has made it known for months that it would not extend the gas transit plan with Russia.
Slovakia and other countries receiving Russian gas, passing through pipelines in Ukraine, have started talks to prevent these flows from stopping when the agreement expires.
The European Union and Ukraine have asked Azerbaijan to facilitate talks with Russia over a gas transit deal to maintain the flow of gas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday it was clear there would be no new deal with kyiv to transport Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine.
Ukraine has said it will not extend the contract under which almost 15 billion cubic meters of Russian gas is delivered to Europe each year. This figure should be compared to the 150 billion cubic meters of gas transported by pipeline which passed through Ukraine in 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that kyiv could consider continued transit of Russian gas, but on the condition that Moscow does not receive payment before the end of the war, a condition it is unlikely to accept.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the transit agreement would expire on the morning of January 1, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. He added that transit could only resume for non-Russian gas if requested by the European Commission.
SOCAR's source said that SOCAR had mediated negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian energy companies for almost a year, at the request of Ukraine and the European Union.
He said senior executives met with high-level representatives of Ukrainian energy companies on May 2 in Istanbul and August 29 in Vienna, adding: “In the end, the Ukrainian and Russian sides could not agree. agree to the conditions. »
SOCAR, Russian energy giant Gazprom and Ukrainian state-owned Naftogaz did not immediately respond to requests for official comment.
