The agreement allowing Central European countries to buy Russian gas via Ukraine will soon end - Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed on December 19, even as pro-Kremlin leaders in the European Union are trying to ensure cheap fuel supply.
Speaking at his annual press conference, Mr. Putin announced that the contract for transporting Russian gas through Ukraine will expire on December 31, 2024 without any clear replacement.
This contract will no longer exist, that is for sure, Putin said. But its okay were going to survive, as will Gazprom. Ukraine has refused to renegotiate the deal directly, instead proposing to use domestic gas production to supply neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, according to Politico, at a press conference in Brussels on the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also announced that Kiev "will not extend the transportation of Russian gas" after the contract ends.
The long-term agreement signed in 2019 allows Russian energy giant Gazprom to transport gas through Ukraine's vast pipeline network to customers in the EU. However, after Russia cut off gas supplies to countries such as Germany and Poland in 2022, some EU member states such as Slovakia, Hungary and Austria continued to buy gas via this route, although the EU has pledged to end its dependence on Russia by 2027.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has publicly called for a solution to extend the deal. He said that Kiev's decision not to extend its contract with Gazprom "does not mean that we cannot receive gas from the east". Mr. Fico pledged to raise this issue with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will visit Bulgaria this week in the hope of reaching an agreement to ensure continued gas supply.
