Abdullah Abu Daif (Cairo)
As the expiration date of the contract between Moscow and Kiev to transport Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine approaches, President Vladimir Putin, in front of more than 6,000 people from 76 countries during the Eastern Economic Forum, waved other alternatives for shipping gas, if the Ukrainian government does not extend the contract.
Despite the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war for about two and a half years, and the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the European Union, Russian gas is still flowing to the bloc’s countries.
President Putin said his country was considering other options if Ukraine did not extend the agreement to ship Russian gas to Europe, including the TurkStream gas pipeline that runs through Turkey.
Speaking about the natural gas transit agreement with Ukraine, which expires at the end of this year, Putin said that if Ukraine does not extend the contract, shipments to Europe will decrease, but that this is “their own decision.”
The Russian President pointed out that Kiev’s failure to extend the contract with Gazprom to transport Russian gas to Europeans via Ukraine after December 31 will cause his country financial “losses.”
In late August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially announced that Kyiv would not extend the current five-year agreement with Russia beyond its expiration at the end of the year.
Despite the ongoing conflict, Russia delivered just over 14 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine in 2023. But that figure is far short of the 40 billion cubic meters stipulated in the contract.
He explained that Russia could ship to Europe via different routes. “The shipment will go via other routes, especially TurkStream, and it may also be partly via Blue Stream, but this is for domestic consumption,” he said.
He pointed out that Germany can obtain natural gas via Ukraine and Turkey, but it cannot obtain it from the pipeline passing through the Baltic Sea (Nord Stream).
He added: “If the Europeans do not want this, then there is no need for them to buy gas. We will gradually increase our supplies to other parts of the world,” explaining that “the global economy cannot bear the absence of Russian energy resources. This is impossible.”
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