XIAMEN /China/, September 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Energy Ministry and the European Commission plans to discuss the new package of US sanctions and the Nord Stream 2 project, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday.
"I think that we will have a chance to discuss (those issues - TASS) as the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 is one of the topics," he said, adding that the date of the meeting has not been set yet.
"In principle, we don’t rule this out as at our latest meeting we planned such a dialogue for the fall. As of now there is no particular date," Novak said when asked whether a meeting with the European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic to discuss potential gas supplies to Ukraine and the Nord Stream 2 project is possible in October.
According to Novak, the Russian side assumes that Europe is interested in the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project.
"First, we assume that the European partners are interested in the implementation of this project. Second, this project has already been launched and partially financed, including by its participants, it is important for Europe, first of all from the viewpoint of higher demands of Europe and provision of its energy security. That is why much depends on the position of the European partners, hopefully, the reason will triumph over short-term ambitions," he said.
Also, the minister said, the plan is to discuss standard issues at the meeting. "We have a standard agenda that includes relations in the area of energy, oil and gas sector, electricity, implementation of big infrastructure projects, energy supplies, gas in the first place, and of course the issues related to future dealing with the Baltic republics from the viewpoint of synchronized operation of our power grid systems," Novak said.