The end of Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine is “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian president denounces Moscow’s “cynical energy blackmail”, despite the concern of several Eastern European countries.
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Ukraine: almost three years of war
Tap cut off: deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine definitively stopped on Wednesday, after the expiration of a contract signed between the two parties at the end of 2019 and maintained despite Russia’s invasion of the country.
This stop, which concerns almost a third of total Russian gas deliveries to Europe, worries several Eastern European countries, notably Moldova, particularly vulnerable, and Slovakia which has warned of serious consequences.
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No deliveries were planned for Wednesday, according to data published the day before by the Ukrainian operator GTSOU, noting the expiration of a five-year contract established in 2019 between the Ukrainian company Naftogaz and the Russian giant Gazprom. This end of the transit is “one of Moscow’s greatest defeats”welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.
“When (Vladimir) Putin took power in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual volume of gas sent via Ukraine to Europe amounted to more than 130 billion m3. Today, the Russian gas transit is at zero, which is one of Moscow’s biggest defeats. he wrote on social networks.
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At the time, in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky was nevertheless delighted with an agreement synonymous with “energy security” and “prosperity for Ukrainians”, which was to bring the country “more than seven billion dollars” over five years . But times have changed radically. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and its army regularly attacks Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
