The future of gas transit through Ukraine is at a turning point. If a last-minute deal isn’t struck by Wednesday, billions of cubic meters in gas flows could halt.
Ukraine is under mounting pressure from Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and a group of central European companies to keep gas moving from its eastern border with Russia to European Union buyers following the expiration of a transit agreement on Dec. 31.
Almost three years after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Budapest and Bratislava still rely on cheap gas from Gazprom PJSC, undermining the EU push to cut reliance on Russian energy.
With three days to go before the Russia-Ukraine agreement runs out, rhetoric on all sides has hardened. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier this week accused Fico of striking “shadow agreements” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, the Slovak leader threatened to halt power supplies to his eastern neighbor.
The escalation hasn’t come as a surprise to diplomats with knowledge of the talks. Past disputes over gas transit between the two former partners saw flows cut or reduced overnight — and deals clinched at the very last minute.
Source: xufengnian2020