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Slovakia will back any steps to keep gas transit to Europe, says senior diplomat

Bratislava calls for modernizing Ukraine’s gas transportation system to ensure further transit of gas bound for Slovakia through Ukrainian territory

TASHKENT, May 19. /TASS/. Bratislava will support any initiatives in order to preserve Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine’s territory, State Secretary of Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Lukas Parizek told TASS commenting on the new Ukrainian leadership’s plans to involve the United States in the gas talks.

"We will back any steps, which will ease gas transit and reliable supplies, including for Slovakia, and also satisfy Ukraine," Parizek said.

According to the senior diplomat, Bratislava calls for modernizing Ukraine’s gas transportation system to ensure further transit of gas bound for Slovakia through Ukrainian territory. "There have been discussions on creating an international consortium that would implement this modernization," he said.

Earlier, Ukrainian news agency UNN reported citing President-Elect Vladimir Zelensky’s press service that his team expected to hold consultations with the country’s government and fulfill decisions on gas supplies agreed on with the EU, the US and other partners.

The contracts Gazprom and Naftogaz signed in 2009 for the supply of gas to Ukraine and the transit of gas through the country to Europe expire in the end of this year. Extension of the agreements on transit of Russian gas after 2019 is also being discussed in the context of the planned construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, which will bypass the transit countries.