Minister says EU position on gas transit to hurt it, Russia

BELGRADE, Dec 13 (PRIME) -- The European Commission wants to preserve Russian natural gas transit through Ukraine at all costs during negotiations with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said late on Monday in a news conference after a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic.

The Russia–E.U. energy dialogue “is becoming a victim of ideology-driven and politicized approaches that are largely aimed at trying to justify absolute incompetence of the Ukrainian authorities to fulfill the Minsk agreements signed by President (of Ukraine Pyotr) Poroshenko,” he said.

“I think that the false wish to keep transit through Ukraine after 2019 at all costs, even if it means losses for Russia and the E.U. countries is a glaring example. But this is exactly the position that the European commission is defending with an art worthy of a better cause during negotiations with us,” he said.

Previously, Russian gas giant Gazprom said it is not keen on prolonging the gas transit contract with Ukraine after it expires in 2019. Currently, the company is implementing the Nord Stream-2 and the Turkish Stream gas pipeline projects which will allow the company to export gas to the E.U. bypassing Ukraine.

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