Ukraine has agreed to transit Azerbaijani gas to Europe as a temporary measure after a deal to transfer Russian gas through its territory ended at the end of year, although it expects some Russian fuel to be included in volumes from Azerbaijan. This was reported by the publication "Ukrainska Pravda", citing a source from the Ukrainian government, Reuters reported.
The deal for gas transit through Ukraine with the Russian company "Gazprom" expires at the end of the year, and authorities in Kiev have said they do not want to renew the arrangements amid the ongoing war between the two countries.
Some Central European countries still rely on gas supplies from Russia, which pass through Ukraine by pipeline, after securing exemptions from the European Union's ban on Russian gas imports.
An Azerbaijani government official has reported that the EU and Kiev have asked Baku to facilitate discussions with Russia, with the potential option of Azerbaijan buying Russian gas for itself to free up some of its own export capacity to the EU.
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"We understand that the EU needs time to completely wean itself off Russian gas. And we are taking this step to make this transition easier," the Ukrainian government source said.
According to him, Ukraine is ready to support this agreement, although certain amounts of Russian gas may be mixed with Azerbaijani gas.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry declined to comment on the matter when asked by Reuters.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said last week that he is optimistic about a breakthrough in negotiations to continue gas supplies through Ukraine to some European countries.