Moscow is prepared to continue gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine after the current transit agreement expires at the end of the year. This is what Russian President Vladimir Putin said today, quoted by DPA, writes BTA.
"We and "Gazprom" we want to fulfill our obligations with respect to our customers with whom we have long-term contracts," Putin said during a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
He noted that Russia is unable to force Ukraine to extend the gas transit agreement, and European countries that can put pressure on Kiev are not particularly interested.
Putin also added that Poland has closed the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which carries gas through Belarus to Poland and Germany, and Berlin has not connected to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
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In fact, it was Russia that stopped deliveries through Yamal - Europe in May 2022 after Poland refused to make payments in rubles, DPA recalls.
Putin has repeatedly raised the issue of Nord Stream 2, as he did when Russia cut and then halted Nord Stream 1 supplies in 2022 due to technical problems. This happened weeks before the explosions that damaged the pipelines in September 2022.
"Gazprom", in which Russia has a majority stake, registered huge losses last year. Attempts to replace its European business with Asian customers did not lead to much success.
Talks with China on the construction of a second pipeline have been terminated due to Beijing's reluctance to pay the prices paid by European consumers in the past, DPA adds.