European Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic has said that it is time for the new round of trilateral gas talks with participation of Ukraine and Russia.

"Constructive and stable co-operation between Russia and Ukraine in the field of energy is of utmost importance for the European Union. In this context, I have always underlined the need for a continued, long-term transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to the EU in a reliable and commercially viable way. Therefore, I have reached out to both, Ukrainian and Russian partners, and invited them for trilateral talks which in the past, proved to be effective in reaching tangible, successful results," Sefcovic said in a statement spread on Wednesday in Brussels.

He said that "the talks - supported by the Member States - should start as soon as possible in order to take stock of the gas matters important for involved parties and to look into gas transit via Ukraine beyond 2019."