After end of Russian gas transit in 2025, Ukraine ready to transit non-Russian gas at EU's request – Shmyhal in conversation with Fico
The agreement between Ukraine and Russia on gas transit expires on January 1, 2025 and will not be extended, but in the event of an appeal by the European Commission, Ukraine is ready to implement the transit of any gas except Russian, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a conversation with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico.
"Ukraine is ready to fulfill the obligations that we assumed under the Association Agreement with the EU. Therefore, if the European Commission officially asks Ukraine to transit any gas except Russian, we will, of course, discuss this and are ready to implement the relevant agreements based on the principles of energy security, both for the entire EU and for each European nation," Shmyhal said in Telegram following the conversation.
He said Ukraine's priority is guaranteed energy security for the whole of Europe and, in particular, uninterrupted supplies of natural gas in the winter.
According to Shmyhal, Ukraine is grateful to all partners in Europe for understanding that Russia is using its energy exports to finance a criminal and unprovoked war and to continue its destabilizing activities against other European countries and the EU as a whole.
"It is important that the adopted 15th package of sanctions of the European Union tightens sanctions, in particular, against the shadow tanker fleet, which brings Russia significant funds to continue the war. Sanction pressure against the Russian energy sector should be continued, this is one of the key elements of forcing Russia to real peace," the Ukrainian Prime Minister said.
According to him, he also discussed with Fico increasing cooperation between the two countries in the electric power industry. "Over the past week, 30% of electricity imports came from Slovakia. We are grateful for this support and are ready to expand these opportunities, as this strengthens both our nations – the resilience of Ukraine and the economy of Slovakia," Shmyhal said.
According to him, there is also an ambitious agenda for cooperation in logistics and transportation, in particular, Kyiv-Bratislava train began running on December 15.
Fico recently announced that Slovakia will hold a series of extremely intensive negotiations at different levels and in different countries starting this week to ensure gas supplies from Russia after its current transit contract, in which Ukraine is a participant, expires at the end of this year. According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Slovakia Denisa Sakova, the negotiations will take place with the participation of the European Commission, Ukraine and EU member states.
According to Fico, Slovakia would like to continue cheaper supplies from the east.