Ukraine ready to work out new deal for gas transit to Europe, says PM

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday that Ukraine was willing to devise a deal enabling gas to transit through its territory to western Europe, but ruled out any extension of an existing deal with Russia. 

Shmyhal was writing on the Telegram messaging app after speaking to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico as some European countries stepped up their search for gas supplies.

With two weeks remaining before the gas transit deal with Russia expires, Shmyhal said Ukraine was willing to discuss transit of gas of any origin except Russian.

"To this effect, if the European Commission officially approaches Ukraine about the transit of any gas other than Russian, we naturally will discuss it and are ready to reach an appropriate agreement," Shmyhal said.

"I stressed that Ukraine's agreement with Russia on gas transit comes to an end on 1st January 2025 and will not be extended."

Shmyhal said much had already been done in recent years with EU countries "in order to secure reliable gas supplies and prevent the use of any type of energy as a weapon".

Ukraine, locked in a 33-month-old war with Russia, has made it plain for months that it would not extend the gas transit plan with Russia.

Slovakia and other countries receiving gas from Russia, transited via pipelines in Ukraine, are in talks to try to avoid those flows stopping when the agreement runs out.

Before the two prime ministers spoke, Fico had said that maintaining gas transit was not just a bilateral matter for Ukraine's neighbours but an issue for the whole EU.

Fico said last week he aimed to secure continued eastern supplies to avoid paying more in transit fees from other suppliers. Slovakia has a long-term contract with Russian giant Gazprom.

Slovakia's Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said earlier in Brussels that European countries and companies had a combined demand for around 15 billion cubic metres of Russian gas next year via Ukraine and were in talks to secure new supplies.

Slovakia is hoping a deal could cover gas deliveries for two or three years. The EU has set a target of stopping using Russian fossil fuels by 2027.

Some EU countries in eastern Europe are considering securing supplies from Azerbaijan, which could transit through Ukraine, but no deal has yet been clinched.

Ukrainian officials have suggested that existing pipelines could be used to ship gas supplied by a county other than Russia.

Moldova, Ukraine's small ex-Soviet western neighbour, has also been in talks to secure supplies from Gazprom and, with the expiry of the transit deal imminent, is considering securing Russian gas through Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.