MOSCOW, 3 March. /TASS/. The question of who will pay for Russian gas supplies to east Ukraine remains unresolved, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.
Russia considers that its gas supplies to Ukraine’s self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics stand in line with the effective agreement and Ukraine is to pay for them, he told journalists.
"This issue remains unresolved. We consider this to be in line with the contract, and Ukraine is to pay for this," Novak said.
According to the Russian Energy Minister, Ukraine is lying saying it carries out deliveries of gas to DPR and LPR.
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"We are positive about the initiative [to independently supply gas to the LPR and DPR on the part of the Ukrainian authorities] and believe that in principle, the Ukrainian side should resume gas deliveries," Novak told journalists.
"If they do, then there will be no necessity for [Russian state-controlled energy giant] Gazprom to supply [gas] via these two gas measuring stations. But unfortunately, these are only words and statements, and the Ukrainian side, when it says they keep supplying gas to Ukraine’s southeast, is cheating, because this is untrue," he said.
Russia considers gas supplies to the self-proclaimed republics to be in line with Gazprom’s current contract on gas supplies to the territory of Ukraine, Novak went on to say.
"Gazprom and Russian authorities consider it [gas supplies] to be in full compliance with the current contract on gas supplies to Ukraine. Gas is supplied to the territory of Ukraine in accordance with the contract," the minister said.
The Ukrainian side does not recognize Gazprom’s supplies to DPR and LPR, he added.