Russia and Ukraine Agreed in Principle on Gas Transit

Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement in principle on gas transit from January 1, 2020. This was announced by the Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič within the press meeting according to the results of negotiations held in Berlin. The meeting, mediated by Germany and the European Union, lasted nine hours, reports the dpa agency. According to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, countries’ representatives have prepared a detailed protocol to a future agreement. The Minister of Energy of Ukraine Oleksiy Orzhel also confirmed the information on the prepared protocol, Vedomosti writes. According to Šefčovič, principal agreements will be discussed on December, 20 in Moscow and Kiev. The Vice President of the European Commission expressed the hope that a new contract will be signed before the end of the year. The parties reached an understanding on the terms of the future agreement and the volumes of gas that will be delivered to Europe in transit through Ukraine, writes dpa. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. The current gas transit contract of Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of the current year. The presidents of Russia and Ukraine Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky have discussed the issue of contract extension within their first meeting in Paris, but could not come to a final decision. Svoboda