Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine's gas storage facilities are full, its logic is supported by the EU and the Stockholm arbitration award, while the Nord Stream 2 pipe has not been completed yet.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has said Ukraine is ready for complex negotiations on gas transit and a possible "gas war" with Russia.
"Ukraine will continue to negotiate on gas, maybe it won't be easy, maybe it'll include a 'gas war.' But we are fully prepared for this: our storage facilities are full, our logic is supported by the EU and the Stockholm arbitration award, while Nord Stream 2 is yet to be completed. We need a long-term contract. We emphasized we would not give up on their debt. One of the options we're considering is that we can accept debt through gas," the prime minister wrote on Facebook, commenting on the negotiations in the Normandy format.
Read alsoUkraine has chance of signing new gas transit deal with Russia on better terms, Zelensky says
Honcharuk also said Ukraine was able to achieve its goal in gas talks, taking the issue of gas transit beyond the Donbas settlement discussion.
"We didn't reach an agreement on the [gas transit] contract, but this should've not have happened in Paris anyway," the prime minister added.
UNIAN memo. 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 said it would minimize gas transit shipments through the Ukrainian territory.