Vice-President of the European Commission for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič says he is disappointed by the outcome of an October 28 trilateral gas transit talks involving Russia and Ukraine.
"Unfortunately, I am disappointed by today's outcome. And I say this very openly. I had prepared today's trilateral talks in a way that should have allowed us – if there was a political will on all sides – to see positive progress," he said at a press event following the talks in Brussels.
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"My key message during our meetings, both bilateral and trilateral was: the time is flying and given the date, there is – and there must be – a clear sense of urgency. Therefore, I appealed to everyone around the table to be as constructive as possible," he said.
According to him, the purpose of the talks was also to find a common understanding that a new gas transit contract should be concluded according to European rules.
He said he had put forward proposals to the parties on the volume of gas transit shipments and transportation rates, but the Russian side had not supported it.
"I listened very carefully to the Russian side and the outcome of the senior officials meeting on October 21: therefore, this also included potential volumes of direct gas sales to Ukraine; as well as legal disputes, namely Stockholm [arbitration] and Anti-monopoly case [against Russia's Gazprom in Ukraine]," he said.
"These parameters were acceptable to our Ukrainian partners who were ready to engage on the basis of our proposal. Unfortunately, the Russian delegation was not prepared to do the same at this moment – and I underline at this moment," he said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Brussels on October 28 hosted the trilateral negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine from January 1, 2020.
