KIEV, July 28 – A three-way meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the European Union could make it clear whether it is possible to use pipelines running through the south of Ukraine as an alternative to the South Stream project, European Commissioner on Energy Gunther Oettinger said during a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov in Kiev on Wednesday, Interfax-Ukraine has learned from Vitaliy Lukyanenko, the press secretary of the Ukrainian premier.

Oettinger said that gas would play an important role in the energy supplies of Europe for the next 40 years.