The European Commission is ready to continue three-way gas talks with Russia and Ukraine, but would like to see “much stronger political will” for an agreement from both sides, European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said on 1 July in Brussels following a breakdown in the talks in Vienna the day before.
“I am not hiding my frustration about not getting to an agreement in Vienna,” Sefcovic said, adding that the Commission would like to hold the next round of trilateral…
Next steps
Before the next round of talks, both the Commission and Russia would like to have a clearer picture on how Kyiv intend to finance its gas purchases. “There is money in the system from the International Monetary Fund and the EU, but this money is not earmarked in any way,” the expert source said. He said so far Ukraine has agreed to using the revenue from transit fees for buying gas from Russia or from Western European shippers. But the Commission would like to see a commercial plan from Kyiv before the next round of three-way talks, Sefcovic said. “The Commission will continue its efforts to broker a new winter package in September,” Sefcovic said.
