The U.S. Department of State and the Ukrainian government have agreed on supplies of 6-8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) every year to Ukraine with its further transportation to European countries via a hub based on Ukrainian underground gas storage (UGS) facilities, Deputy Energy and Environmental Protection Minister Kostiantyn Chyzhyk has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"We have already signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the U.S. Louisiana Natural Gas Exports, Inc. Moreover, they were ready to sign a memorandum with specific figures and obligations, but we legally need some time to work out all the issues to authorize the relevant agencies to sign such a contract," he said.

According to the official, the operator in this project will be either Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy (MGU) or Naftogaz Ukrainy, but given the very geopolitical weight of this project, its implementation will be held under the patronage of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

As Chyzhyk said, this is an unprecedented full-scale project that will strengthen the energy and geopolitical independence of European countries from the Russian Federation, and will also have a great economic effect.

"This is a matter of energy independence and security of our country and the region as a whole. Thus, we will reduce the dependence of the entire Europe on the Russian Federation, which, in particular, is the idea of U.S. power. From an economic point of view, what we are talking about means that Ukraine will be not just a hub where gas will enter in order to disperse across Europe. It's about Ukraine's entry into the capital of the entire chain: from gas production in the United States to its sale in Europe," the deputy minister said.