SOCHI, May 18 - Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Friday that gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine may continue even after the launch of a new prospective Germany-bound pipeline under the Baltic Sea, The Associated Press reported.
The question of whether Ukraine would be frozen out of future Russian gas deliveries is seen as one of the main stumbling blocks for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project spearheaded by Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom. Several European countries object to the plan, including Ukraine, and the United States has warned that it could endanger Europe’s energy security.
Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Russian city of Sochi, Putin said Russia has no intention of halting supplies of gas to the EU nations across Ukraine’s territory after the launch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline , scheduled for late 2019. Supplies via Ukraine, which relies heavily on transit fees for gas, would continue if they are economically expedient, he said.
“We are ready to preserve such transit if it makes sense economically,” he said. “It can be achieved in talks with the Ukrainian side, and we are ready for such talks.”
Putin suggested that the U.S. opposition to the Nord Stream 2 stems from President Donald Trump’s desire to encourage exports of the U.S. liquefied natural gas, which is supplied by ship and is considerably more expensive than Russian supplies.
Merkel, too, emphasized the need to provide Ukraine with guarantees that supplies via its territory will continue.
Germany wants Russia’s gas and has calculated that the new pipeline will provide better value for money compared with other options.
The meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi was Merkel’s first visit to Russia in a year. It came amid tense relations between Berlin and Moscow.
Germany has condemned Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and its military support for the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. But as she starts her fourth term, Merkel is reaching out to Putin in an effort to make some progress on these long-running crises.
Germany insists that a U.N. peacekeeping force should help facilitate next year’s elections in Ukraine. Moscow, which backs the separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine, has indicated it could agree to their presence but balked at Ukraine’s demand to allow their deployment alongside the Russia-Ukraine border. (ap/ez)
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