Russia, Ukraine in EU-backed talks to avoid ‘gas wars’

MOSCOW — Officials from Moscow and Kiev were set to gather in Berlin on Tuesday for EU-backed talks on the future of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine in a bid to minimize disputes when the current contract expires next year. Russian gas giant Gazprom has already dramatically reduced the volume of gas transiting via the country, as Moscow and Kiev remain at loggerheads over the annexation of Crimea and simmering conflict in the east of Ukraine. Kiev fears the loss of revenue from transit taxes, on top of being bypassed politically as well as physically by new gas pipes. The meeting will bring together delegations from Gazprom and its Ukrainian counterpart Naftogaz, which have been locked in legal battles for years. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin will also be present. “It is clear that time is of the essence. The negotiations that lie ahead of us are complex,” said European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic ahead of the talks. The meeting will focus on Gazprom’s plan to construct and put into operation by the end of next year the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which would bring gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine. The pipeline will follow the track of the existing Nord Stream 1 and will double the amount of Russian gas arriving in the European Union’s most powerful economy via this route. Germany has long insisted this is a purely “commercial” project and in March lifted the final obstacles to its construction. —