22:23 01.03.2018

Kyiv notifies EU of use of early warning mechanism in energy sector, initiates trilateral talks due to Gazprom's actions – Zerkal

2 min read
Kyiv notifies EU of use of early warning mechanism in energy sector, initiates trilateral talks due to Gazprom's actions – Zerkal

Ukraine has notified the European Union of the use of an early warning mechanism in the energy sector and is initiating trilateral talks to ensure the stability of natural gas supplies to Ukraine and the EU, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration Olena Zerkal has said.

"We've just sent notification to the EU on the use of an early warning mechanism in the energy sector under Article 340 and Annex 26 of the Association Agreement. And we are also initiating trilateral negotiations in the Ukraine-EU-Russia format to ensure stable gas supplies to Ukraine and the EU," Zerkal wrote on Facebook on Thursday evening.

Russian Gazprom's current failure to fulfill its contractual obligations and refusal to implement a ruling by a Stockholm arbitration court, which poses a threat to gas supplies to Ukraine and the EU, have prompted Kyiv to do so, she said.

"Gazprom has once again demonstrated its dishonesty. And, as always, it tries to let Ukraine down ... It won't work! ... The story of 2009 won't happen again. The Stockholm [ruling], the Association Agreement and the gas market reform have changed the paradigm of relations with Russia in the gas sector for good. Blackmail no longer works," she added.

As was reported, opening a National Security and Defense Council meeting earlier on that day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin to initiate trilateral consultations with the European Commission and Russia to implement the Stockholm Arbitration ruling on transit gas supplies.

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