Ukraine to retain status of gas transit state: Poroshenko-Steinmeier talks

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Kyiv May 29 to discuss, among other issues, the topic of Russian gas transit to the EU and a Nord Stream 2 project.

“I think concerns about Ukraine ceasing to be a country transiting natural gas are groundless,” Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier noted following the talks, according to Ukraine's presidential administration press service.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that Germany, even during the negotiations on the Nord Stream 2, always kept Ukraine in mind. "We are also talking about the future and security of Ukraine. And you saw, I hope Ukraine keeps track of that, Germany makes efforts to ensure the transit of natural gas through Ukraine. For this, negotiations are taking place - not only between Germany and Ukraine, but also with the EU. And I also hope that these talks will bring results in the near future," he said.

Read alsoGerman president sees corruption and nationalism as major threats to Ukraine's futureIn turn, the Ukrainian president said that, of course, Ukraine was interested in the situation around the Nord Stream 2. "Today, Ukraine is making every effort to convince, including some European partners, that this is a purely political rather than economic project aimed at breaking up the unity of the EU, aimed at harming Ukraine and reducing the level of security of the entire region, not just the competitiveness of the European economy," Petro Poroshenko said.

In support of this position, the president drew attention to the refusal of the Russian Federation to comply with the decision of the Stockholm arbitration to pay Ukraine $4.6 billion and ensure the supplies to Ukraine at fixed prices under the formula approved by the court.

"I want to emphasize that we have all the agreements with European partners based on this arbitration clause - the Stockholm arbitration. And how can one predict that Russia will fulfill its obligations when it does not comply with the decision of the Stockholm arbitration in relation to Ukraine," he said.

Read alsoGroysman: Russia wants to 'destroy' Ukraine's gas pipeline with Nord Stream 2Instead, Ukraine has proved its credibility as a transit country, the Ukrainian president emphasized. "In a situation where Russia stopped supplying transit gas to Europe this year, I appealed to the Ukrainian people to sharply reduce gas consumption in Ukraine, and the next day Ukraine reduced its consumption by 25% in order to secure the transit of gas to the EU, demonstrating its credibility."