The end of Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine is "one of Moscow's biggest defeats", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, condemning Moscow's "cynical energy blackmail", Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
"When Vladimir Putin took power in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual volume of gas sent via Ukraine to Europe amounted to more than 130 billion cubic meters. Today, Russian gas transit is at zero, which is one of Moscow's biggest defeats", the Ukrainian president wrote on social networks.
In 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the agreement reached with Moscow as synonymous with "energy security" and "prosperity for Ukrainians", saying it is expected to bring his country "more than seven billion dollars" over five years. But since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow's forces have regularly attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure, AFP recalls.