Oleksiy Orzhel / REUTERS
The Ukrainian and European sides are ready to hold the negotiations at any time.
Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection Oleksiy Orzhel says he hopes that the next round of tripartite gas talks between Ukraine, Russia and the European Union will take place on December 5.
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"Regarding the next date, I hope it will be December 5 tentatively. But at the same time, two sides (the Ukrainian and European ones) are ready [to meet] at any time," the minister said at a briefing on December 2.
According to Orzhel, the parties have already held technical consultations, so the talks are expected to be held in a constructive way soon.
As UNIAN reported earlier, trilateral negotiations on gas transit via the territory of Ukraine after January 1, 2020, were held in Brussels on October 28. The previous meeting took place on September 19.
The negotiations were focused on the following: how to reflect EU energy rules in a future framework agreement; the proper duration of the future contract; necessary volumes with possible variability; and gas transit rates.
Russia's gas giant Gazprom in the course of talks on September 19 for the first time allowed the possibility of concluding a contract in line with European rules from January 1, 2020, if they are fully implemented in Ukraine before the end of this year.
The existing transit contract between Ukraine and Russia's Gazprom was signed in 2009 for 10 years. Once it expires (from 2020), the Russian monopoly plans to minimize gas transit through the Ukrainian territory.